Kidnapped
by shan4nigans
Summary: (Y/N) wakes up to find out that she has absolutely no idea where she is, and that she's the key to an important prophecy...one that the Leaf will fulfill no matter what. In the end, who will be the one to help her get home?
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto! Thanks!

* * *

I ran as fast as I could, pumping my arms and trying to control my breathing. That's what I was good at, right? Running away? My legs were starting to feel heavy, but I refused to slow down.

 _Keep going! You're almost there!_ I forced all of my energy into my legs as I evaded trees and roots in the forest. I had to get there before they found me.

"(Y/N)!" I flinched hearing my name being shouted so close to me. _Were they catching up already? Damn it!_

"(Y/N) we want to help you!" _Like hell you do._ I pushed myself harder and harder as I saw the clearing approaching.

 _I'm almost there! I'm finally almost there!_

* * *

I scowled as Ben pushed his face closer to mine. "You really messed up this time, didn't you, bitch?" His friends smirked behind him, some laughed in anticipation.

"I can't believe you actually tried to get away by running into a government-restricted area. I thought _(Y/N)_ was supposed to be a _good_ girl." I stared him down, breathing heavily. I knew Ben well enough to know not to talk back, but was still out of breath from evading the group. Or, well, trying to.

"Are you mute, bitch? Can you speak? Obviously you must be able to speak because you used words when you told me 'no'."

I refused to speak. Ben and a couple of his friends had found me walking home from the library earlier, and he decided to make a move. I declined, but he wouldn't let me continue home. After a few minutes he got violent. I lightly touched my black eye—a nice reminder to avoid his punch.

I eyed my backpack in his hands. He had ripped it off while chasing me, and I decided that it wasn't worth turning around for. A backpack was worth staying unviolated, if you ask me.

As he stood in front of me, I knew what he was planning to do. I looked around me, but the woods were dense and the moonlight couldn't get through enough to light the area around us. I began to panic, but tried to hold it in. If he knew I was scared, he might try something sooner. I needed to stall.

"You know, Ben, you could have asked me to dinner or a movie. Or maybe a nice picnic in the park. I might have said yes."

He cracked his knuckles and smirked. "You really think I would go through all that trouble when I can just get what I want right now?" He stepped closer and grabbed my arm. "Stupid bitch."

I was out of options. I wound back and slammed my fist into his face. I don't think he was expecting it, because my hand met no resistance.

He staggered back and cradled his cheek. But only for a moment.

"You're dead, bitch!" Ben and his friends charged at me. I started to run, but two strong hands stopped me before I made it far. The boys started grabbing onto me as Ben cracked his knuckles. One blow to the stomach and I doubled over as much as I could. Thanks to his friends, I was still restrained. The wind was knocked out of me, and I couldn't catch my breath. "You want to fuck with me, bitch? This is what happens." He motioned to a lake by the treeline, and a few of the kids slightly loosened their grips.

"Ben, I don't think…."

"This isn't right Ben, she doesn't deserve—"

"Do it!" Ben's face turned red as he forcefully grabbed me and glared at the others to help. They reluctantly began to move me towards the lake. He smiled at me almost maniacally. Hey, you never know. Maybe your parents will come looking for you."

That comment inspired rage I had never felt before, but I was in no positon to fight. With the wind knocked out of me I couldn't do much. I was gasping for breath as they threw me into the water, and immediately swallowed too much. I saw a splash in the water, and noticed they threw my backpack in too.

At least, I thought it was my backpack. Things were getting fuzzy.

 _Shit…this is the end….isn't it?_

* * *

My eyes opened up to a blinding light. _Is this Heaven?_ I tried to breathe in but only ended up coughing up water. I was breathing heavily, and tried to examine my surroundings.

 _No, definitely not Heaven._

I was partially on grass next to a lake, and the smell of rotting fish was overwhelming. I looked to my left and saw a massive bass lying dead on the shoreline next to me. I gagged. I went to move, but something about my surroundings was different. I froze. _Where are Ben and them?_ I looked at the trees and nature surrounding me, and realized that I had absolutely no idea where I was. _This isn't the lake they threw me into…_

I began to panic and pulled myself completely out of the water. I stood up slowly, my coordination still a little shaky, and attempted to squint to see through my massive headache. _I should have drowned,_ I thought matter-of-factly. My head was aching and my lungs hurt. But, nevertheless, I knew I couldn't stay there. Not only was the smell of rotting fish burning my nostrils, but I needed food, clean water, and shelter. _I need to find it fast, too,_ I thought, looking at the soon-to-be-setting sun.

I gathered myself and began to walk when I noticed my backpack a few feet away. My mind was whirring as I walked over and picked it up. It was empty, save for a couple bags of almonds I had stashed for the walk home from the library. I saw a shimmer in the lake and noticed my laptop floating in the middle, then sink into the depths. _Well, there goes $700,_ I thought to myself.

Where was I? How did my backpack get out of the lake? I wanted answers, but finding shelter was my immediate concern. Well, that and making sure Ben and the guys weren't anywhere near me.

I walked towards the tree-line, still alert, trying to ring out my soaking shirt. I began to work my way through the thick woods, unfortunately leaving an obvious trail of water behind me. The sounds of animals were comforting to me—I enjoyed being outdoors—and that was what was keeping me sane. I heard a tap on branches above me, but as I looked up, I saw nothing there. My heartbeat increased and I gripped my backpack straps to calm myself down. I kept walking in an unknown direction, but gasped as the bushes in front of me rustled and a glimmer of white rushed past me. I turned quickly, and saw two men with strange, painted masks standing close to me.

"We need you to come with us," said the one with the red markings on his mask. "Immediately."

I blinked. They were completely serious, and based on the weaponry that decorated their backs, I had no intentions of complying. I began to run, and the one with the green markings rushed towards me. I could barely take a step before he grabbed me. Something hard hit my neck, and my world blacked out.

* * *

I opened my eyes to another blinding light. I sat up and took in my surroundings. A white room with one bed, a closet, and a curtain. _Am I in a hospital?_ I noticed strange markings that had been painted on my arm, and my heartbeat increased. I attempted to wipe the markings off when I noticed that my wrists were roped to the bed.

The door to my room was opened and people dressed in white outfits rushed to my side.

"She's awake! Check muscle reaction time!"

"Start the analysis of her breathing patterns and ensure adequate perfusion while she's awake to avoid a parasympathetic acute stress reaction!"

"Control her heartbeat and check hemoglobin levels!"

I began to hyperventilate and my heartbeat rose as they were shouting orders. They were very hurried and I began to panic. I struggled against my restraints, and fought even harder when I saw some of the people's hands glow _green_. I could barely make out words through my panic, and heard things like "sympathetic ASR", "Hokage", and "unconscious".

"Don't touch me," I shouted. "Don't come any closer!" Ignoring me, one of the women placed her _glowing green hand_ on my forehead. I struggled, shouting at her for a moment, until she became fuzzy. I swear on my life I saw a streak of pink flash on her forehead. Before I could process it, however, the world started moving then faded to black.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto

I shot up, ignoring the searing pain from the white light, and saw the same hospital room that I was in earlier. _Earlier…_ It all felt like a dream. Ben, the lake, the strange men with masks, the green hands. It was all too much.

I rubbed my temples with my hands, and noticed that I was no longer restrained. I swung my legs over the side of the bed as the door opened again. This time, however, the person who entered was not dressed in all white.

A woman entered who seemed about thirty. She had blonde hair pulled partially back, a green cardigan and a grey shirt that did little to hide her gigantic…well, you get the point.

""(Y/N). They told me you were up. How are you feeling?" I stared at her blankly. "I see. You've had quite a week, haven't you?" _A week? How long was I out for?_ "I've been informed that you are not from this area, therefore you must have many questions. I'll try to answer a few for you."

She smiled at me, and I didn't know how to feel. I wanted to run, but if she could help me understand what happened, and what _was_ happening, I wasn't going to pass that up.

"My name is Lady Tsunade, but to most I'm the Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. That means that I am the leader of this village, and mandate not only what goes on inside the walls, but all inter-village communications with the Mist, Sound, Sand, and others as well." I was trying to process the new terms as she sat down on the edge of the bed and continued.

"Many of the village's inhabitants are normal, every-day, hardworking people, but a great few are known as shinobi." My eyes must have seem glassed over, because she rephrased herself. "'Ninja' is a word you might know them by."

I swallowed, and thought about the masked men who abducted me earlier. The memory of the kidnapping removed any sense of comfort that I had felt with Lady Tsunade, and I tensed up. The Hokage seemed to notice, and smiled.

"They won't hurt you. At least, not unless I order them to." My eyes widened. "Which, of course, I won't. As long as you comply."

 _Comply?_

"Shinobi are people who possess great taijutsu, speed, intelligence, and—most importantly—the ability to control chakra. Chakra is the spiritual energy in the body, and we shinobi are able to control it and form it to what we need. There are even times when a person's chakra is so powerful and concentrated that it can become tangible and used as a weapon. However, when it is depleted, the shinobi will most likely die."

She continued, but the thought of chakra was interesting to me. _Something that makes you so powerful can cause your death. It's sad that these shinobi are dependent on something that seems so useless outside of battle. I wonder how often shinobi come close to depleting their chakra. Maybe I_ do _have a one-up on these people. Maybe I can still get back home….somehow._

While I was pondering my great escape, I realized that Lady Tsunade had stopped talking and was watching me expectantly. "Sorry, what?"

She sighed. " (Y/N), If you're going to have your head in the clouds like this often, I'll have you live with Nara Shikamaru."

 _Wait…live?_

"I was asking how you felt about living with either someone very energetic or someone very reserved." Okay, hold up.

"Live? You want me to _live_ here? I don't even know where 'here' is! I don't even understand how I got here. I want to go home!" By the end of my monologue, I was shouting. The door flew open and two more masked men were immediately at the Hokage's side. I tensed up, but she waved them off.

"It's okay, she's just emotional. Thank you." The men retreated. "Yes, (Y/N), live here."

My face paled. "I—wh—why can't I go home?" Tsunade's face darkened with seriousness. She stood up.

"I didn't want to tell you this yet, but you seem like the persistent type. So I'll break it to you gently." I looked down at my hands and she walked over to the window. "There is an ancient prophecy that is passed down from Hokage to Hokage. I am the Fifth."

I looked up. _Only the fifth? How new is this village?_

"The Fourth Hokage died fighting off a demon fox, saving the village from the destruction. The Third Hokage, though old, retook his position. He died a very honorable death, fighting off a man who planned to destroy the Leaf Village. However, it was a death that he foresaw. He inscribed the prophecy, along with other things, and when I was chosen to be Hokage by the Elders, I was given the information."

I swallowed. I had a feeling this was much more important than I wanted it to be.

"There is an ancient prophecy that stems from before even the First Hokage. It says, 'Someone from a world not our own will enter the Village through water, burn it with fire and seal it with earth. They will make peace with the wind and protect the Village with the water from which they came.'"

She turned to look at me, and I pulled back. I was terrified. "You aren't from here. That much we gathered on your medical tests. You have chakra, but it is an extremely small amount that has been suppressed by your own body and mind for your entire life. In our world, that is an impossibility. But where you're from, people don't know about chakra, do they?"

"S-some religions t-t-talk ab-b-out it," I stuttered. I was shaking. _How the hell was I supposed be the person from this prophecy? I just got here! I don't even know these people! I want to go home!_

"Exactly. And you came through a body of water, did you not? There was excess water in your lungs according to our medics." I slowly nodded my head. I felt as if I was selling my soul.

"Then that settles it. For now, with the information we have, you may be the key to this prophecy. And we are keeping you here in the Village until we can be sure."

She turned to the door and barked out a name that I couldn't understand. A masked man entered, and my body tensed up involuntarily…again. "Bring me Haruno Sakura."

"Hai!" The man sped off. I couldn't believe my eyes. _I didn't even see him move and he was gone…was that the power of chakra?_

"Haruno Sakura is one of our skilled medical-nin, and will help you change into different clothing. She will also escort you to your new home. For the time being, you will live with Uzumaki Naruto. He lives alone and can host you until the Uchiha clan residence has been prepared. Uchiha Sasuke has a much larger complex and will be able to accommodate you better than Naruto, but I am having some surveillance posted to watch Sasuke for a while to make sure he will be a good host and not use you for his personal gain. He has had a bit of a troubled past."

I swallowed. She wanted me to stay with someone who had a troubled past? Who might want to _use_ me? That sounds like a wonderful idea. Put the newbie with the erotic serial killer. Awesome.

There was a knock, and a girl with—get this— _bright pink_ hairstepped through the door. She smiled widely when she saw the Hokage, and ran up to her immediately. "Tsunade-sama! You wanted to see me?"

"Hai, Sakura." She motioned towards me. "This is (Y/N). She will be staying with Naruto for a while, so I need you to help her into her clothing and escort her to the Uzumaki residence."

Sakura frowned. "Naruto? Why is she staying with Naruto?"

"She will have a permanent residence with Uchiha Sasuke, but until we have made absolutely sure that he is stable enough to take care of (Y/N), she will be bunking with Naruto."

Sakura's face fell. "Sasuke? I see…" She perked up suddenly and a smile flashed across her face again. "Hai, Tsunade-sama! I'll take care of her!"

The Hokage smiled back. These two must have a pleasant history. "Arigato, Sakura, and take care, (Y/N). We'll be in touch."

With that, she left, and Sakura pulled clothing out of the closet for me to wear. She walked over to me and laid the clothing on the bed. After taking one look, I shook my head.

"No, absolutely not. I do not wear _netting_. Where are my normal clothes?"

Sakura smiled at me. "They were wet and potentially contaminated, so we burned them. We saved your backpack though." She motioned to the closet, and sure enough, my backpack was leaned up against the doors. I sighed of relief. _At least I have something familiar._ She smiled sweetly and her bangs moved in the wind. That's when I remembered.

"You were her! The girl whose hands glow green!"

Sakura laughed. "Yes, that is a special chakra produced only by medical-nin. It was to heal you and to put you to sleep so we could run our tests on a compliant patient. You weren't exactly a walk-in-the-park to heal."

I smiled. _No, I definitely wasn't._ Sakura helped me into my clothes, which pertained of a sleeveless crop top with a high collar that had a short split down the middle, netting to cover my stomach, and grey, straight-fitting pant that stopped a bit above my ankles—which were covered by these oddly comfortable blue sandals. All in all, I looked very out-of-character.

I was starting to argue with Sakura with the outfit choice when she began squealing with joy. "Ah, you look amazing! Let me fix your hair! Please, please!"

I reluctantly obliged, but secretly enjoyed the comfort I felt from being with Sakura—another girl around my age. She pulled the front of my hair back and held it in place with a headband. "There! Now you look absolutely stunning! All the Konoha boys will be so jealous that you're staying with Sasuke-kun!" When she mentioned his name, a light blush rose to her cheeks, and she saddened a bit.

"Sakura…"I got the impression she liked this Sasuke kid, and I needed to make sure she knew I wasn't stealing her guy.

She smiled at me. "What is it, (Y/N)?"

"I'm being forced to live here. I don't want you to get the impression that I'm enjoying any second of this."

Her face dropped. "Oh…I understand." She stood up. "Here, let's just go, okay?"

She grabbed my hand, and I realized what happened. "Oh, no! Sakura, I'm so grateful that you're here. I've been so scared all the time lately and you're making me feel a lot better. Just…just don't think I'm trying to…steal…anyone from you…" I struggled to find the words to say, and she giggled.

"Oh, (Y/N), it's nothing like that. You're right that I used to be in love with Sasuke, but those days are long gone. We were just on a three-man squad together and we have lots of good memories." I grabbed my backpack and looked back to find her smiling sentimentally. We began walking out the door. I was finally feeling more comfortable, and a question was burning at the back of my throat. I decided Sakura could help me.

"Hey, Sakura?"

"Hai?"

"Lady Tsunade told me that Sasuke had a troubled past. What did she mean?"

Sakura hesitated, and appeared as though she was trying extremely hard to keep the smile on her face. "Sasuke betrayed the village. But now he's back, and is atoning for what he's done. I think that's all I should tell you for now."

Any further inquisitions were met with silence, so I gave up and looked forward. I didn't know how I felt about Sasuke, but at least I knew he wasn't a serial killer…right?

As Sakura lead me out the hospital doors, I pulled uncomfortably at the netting on my stomach.

 _Why is she making me wear this…_

But before I could get another thought in, my eyes widened and I took in my surroundings. The Village was _beautiful_. There were stores and houses everywhere you looked, but not too many that they were trying to overpower the nature in the area. There were lights strung over the streets, and music played from some buildings. Everyone was conversing with each other and laughing—this village gave off a feeling of such joy and pride. I was suddenly less afraid of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I mean, if all of these people can be so happy here, then I should at least be okay for the time being.

I turned to talk to Sakura, and gaped. The mountain behind us had four _massive heads_ carved into it. Sakura giggled. "Those are the heads of the first four Hokage," she explained. "They are planning to start the construction of Lady Tsunade soon."

 _That blonde woman is going to have her head up_ there _?_ The level of her importance began to sink in. I did _not_ want to upset anyone like that. But at the same time…she knew my name. She had conversed with me—or at least, tried to. I wasn't exactly inclined to talk with the woman who wanted to keep me in this village.

I suddenly remembered where I was going. _The Uzumaki residence…my first prison._ I took a deep breath and decided to go along with Sakura for now. _If her hands glow green, she must be really powerful. I really don't want to get on her bad side. I'll stay compliant for a while, and during that time I can scope out the extent of these shinobi's power. Then maybe I can find a way back._

"Hey, Sakura?"

"Hn?" She looked over at me.

"Tell me about Naruto." If I'm living there, I want to know a bit about the guy hosting me. I'm not trying to live with _two_ serial killers.

She smiled. "Naruto? Hm, let's see…He's very loud and annoying, and likes to pull pranks of people. He thinks he's the strongest ninja out of all of us, and brags about his abilities a lot."

I nodded. He sounded like a lot to handle so far.

"He also _loves_ ramen. He always eats at Ichiraku's Ramen stand, and would probably eat them out of business if they didn't limit his intake." She giggled to herself. "I'm guessing that since you're living with him, you'll frequent there too."

I smiled. _A guy who likes to eat? My type of guy._

"All in all, Naruto is a really great guy who will protect his friends no matter what. Once you become close to him, you're a precious person to him for life." She smiled, and seemed to be thinking through a memory. I decided not to push anymore questions and stared straight ahead.

A few people on the street glanced in my direction, but for the most part I was ignored. Unexpectedly, my clothing and hair blended in perfectly. Sakura, however, was the object of many people's attention.

"Sakura-chan! How've you been?"

"Oi, Sakura-chan! Nice to see you!"

"How's the medical training going, Sakura-chan?"

She seemed extremely popular. I happily fell into her shadow, but was slightly irritated at how long it was taking us to traverse this section of the Village. She seemed to know _everyone._

After what felt like an hour, we finally left the street. "Sorry about that," Sakura apologized, "I haven't been home often because of the amount of missions the Leaf has been getting lately, so I wanted to catch up a little."

 _The Leaf….much easier to say than the Village Hidden in the Leaves. And wait…missions?_

"Missions?" I asked, speaking my mind.

"Hai, shinobi are hired out by nobles and people of importance as bodyguards, to eliminate people who are causing trouble, to help with construction, etc. But for the most part, we are the army of the Leaf, and our purpose is to protect the Village and all of its inhabitants." She seemed incredibly proud, and her expression made me smile. _These people truly love living here. Maybe it won't be so bad…_

I caught myself. No, there was no way I could stay here. I pushed to the forefront of my mind the fact that I was _kidnapped_ and I needed to get home. I had to play the part for now, but once these shinobi let their guard down I was gone.

 _Knock, knock, knock_

Sakura rapped on the door that supposedly belonged to Uzumaki Naruto. I took in my surroundings while we waited, and I was _not_ impressed.

This guy lived in an apartment complex, and judging by the small space between the doors of his neighbors, his home couldn't possibly be large enough to accommodate both of us. I sighed.

 _My room at home was larger than this…_

Sakura knocked on his door again, this time less politely. Still hearing no response, she began pounding on the door repeatedly.

"NARUTO I SWEAR TO GOD OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW OR I WILL PUMMEL YOU!" She began beating the door so intensely that she broke a hole right through the center of the door frame. It swung inward due to the impact.

I gaped. My eyes widened and I took a couple steps back. _So this is what happens when Sakura gets angry….intense strength! Duly noted…_

She looked at me and gave an embarrassed giggle. "Sorry about that, (Y/N), Naruto gets me pretty irritated!" She pulled her hand behind her head and giggled again. I stared blankly at her, still in shock by the fact that such a tiny girl made such a massive impact on a seemingly sturdy door.

"Eh, I know where he could be!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the broken door, despite my still-open mouth. "Let's check out Ichiraku's Ramen stand!"

"O-okay…" I let Sakura pull me out of the complex and down the street, as we started running faster than I thought was humanly possible. My legs gave out beneath me and my elbow scraped the ground trying to protect my face.

"Oh! Sorry (Y/N)! Let's try this." She pulled me onto her back, and took off at a sprint. We started maneuvering streets so quickly that my surroundings became blurred, and I started to get dizzy. I buried my head into her back, and she laughed. "You'll get used to it, I promise!"

We finally stopped outside a small-looking hut with cloth flaps allowing those inside their privacy. "He's definitely in here! Look!" I turned my head to where Sakura was pointing, and I saw a pair of orange pants sitting on a stool.

 _Orange…?_

"Naruto!" Sakura waved and ran into the restaurant. "(Y/N), come on!"

"Oi! Sakura-chan!" A loud voice emanated from the hut, and I walked in.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oi! Sakura-chan!"

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AT YOUR HOUSE YOU IDIOT!" Sakura nailed Naruto right on the head and he crashed down out of his seat.

"What the hell was that for?! My house?!" Naruto rubbed the now-tender part of his head and looked up at me. "Eh, Sakura-chan, who's this?"

Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples. I saw her forced composure through the tension of her face. "A messenger from Tsunade-sama came to your house earlier today, remember? You are hosting (Y/N) for a few days until the Elders decide whether or not Sasuke-kun is a decent host."

Naruto stared back at her with a blank expression, and Sakura exploded.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU LEFT A SHADOW CLONE AT YOUR HOUSE SO YOU COULD GO TO HOT SPRINGS WITH JIRAIYA-SAMA DIDN'T YOU?!" She punched him on the head again. I winced, but giggled to myself at the same time. These two were a riot.

Naruto tried to apologize, but it was futile. Sakura needed time to cool off and was completely shutting him down as far as talking went. I sighed. I was really tired and hungry from the long day, and they could be at this for hours.

I cleared my throat in a not-so-subtle manner, and the two stopped arguing to look at me. "I, um, I'm kind of…well, it's been a really long and weird day for me so I'm just kind of tired…" I trailed off, suddenly uncomfortable with the attention I was getting. _I loved talking with Sakura, Where's my confidence? What's so different now?_

"Alright Naruto, she's all yours." Sakura began to walk out of Ichiraku's, but—rethinking what she had said—she whipped around and held her fist up threateningly. "I SWEAR IF I HEAR ONE THING ABOUT YOU HURTING (Y/N) OR ACTING LIKE PERVY-SAGE I WILL DESTROY YOU UZUMAKI NARUTO."

She then smiled, waved, and headed off, leaving me with the blonde-haired wimp. I looked over, and he still had a terrified expression on his face. But, noticing me, he shot up. "Alright! Let's get you home! I won't let anything happen to you, believe it!" He winked and gave me a thumbs up.

 _Wait, seriously? What kind of pose is that...?_

I was more than happy to get out of there and into a quiet place to sleep, so I obliged. But unfortunately, before we could step out of the restaurant, my stomach decided that it had a mind of its own. All the delicious smells from behind the counter had started to make their way to my nose, and my stomach growled audibly.

Naruto turned, and laughed. "Oh yeah! You've been in the hospital forever!" He leaned to the counter, and called to the man cooking happily.

"Oh, no, Naruto, it's really okay…I'm just really tir—" My stomach growled even louder this time, giving me no chance of getting out.

Naruto smiled at me. "No way I'm letting you go hungry, (Y/N)! Two pork ramen!"

"Coming up," the man cheerfully replied.

Within minutes there were two steaming bowls of ramen in front of us, and my mouth was watering so hard that I almost couldn't control it. We both inhaled our bowls, and—somehow—even after having eaten _before I had gotten there_ , the blonde-haired wonder boy still had room for two more massive bowls.

"Wow," I commented, "you can really put away food, can't you?"

He grinned at me, and I noticed the lines on his cheeks. _Scars?_ I wondered, _or maybe really weirdly-symmetrical birthmarks?_ I figured I'd ask about them some other time.

Naruto went to pay the bill, but the man stopped him. "On the house," he said, nodding towards me. The boy smiled.

"Free ramen? Man, I should bring you to eat with me more often!" I smiled back at him, and followed him out of the little hut. We began walking in the direction of his house, and the kid stuck his hands behind his head. Even though I was extremely uncomfortable being forced to stay here, I was beginning to feel a little more relaxed with Naruto. I looked up at the sky and saw the thousands of stars that littered the sky. I didn't notice it getting dark at Ichiraku's, but I was certainly glad that it did. Thanks to light pollution, I had never seen anything so amazing before in my life.

In fact, the number of stars became so incredibly overwhelming that I had to stop moving in order to take them all in. The sky seemed to shine so brightly, and the lights seemed almost perfectly placed. As I looked longer, I began to notice the purples and blues that swirled around in the night sky. I was completely entranced in the beauty, and forgot about absolutely everything else.

"Eh?" Naruto had noticed that I stopped walking, and moved over to look at the sky with me. "You like the stars, huh?" He laughed to himself. "Maybe you should meet Nara Shikamaru!"

I smiled to myself, thinking back on Lady Tsunade's comment about me living with this Shikamaru kid. _Maybe I_ should _meet this guy sometime…sounds like we have a lot in common._

After a couple minutes, Naruto grabbed my hand and pulled me to the apartment. "Come on, (Y/N), I'm exhausted and have to wake up early for training!"

I frowned, and tried to take in more of the stars as he pulled me along.

"You can see them every night now, don't worry!"

I blinked, realizing that he was right. If I stayed, I could look at the stars every night. _No,_ I mentally shook my head. _I have to leave. I looked at the stars long enough to have a nice memory._

I smiled back at him, and let him pull me along for a bit. We reached an intersection, and he stopped suddenly. "Alright, (Y/N), we're going to move a little faster. Get on my back!" I stared at him. There was no way in _hell_ I was about to do that again.

He held out his hand, and I shook my head at him. "You know, Naruto, I really don't think this is a good idea…"

"Come on!" Before I could get another word in edgewise, he grabbed my arm and swung him onto my back.

"Naruto! Don't you dar—!" He shot up onto a roof, and I slammed my eyes shut. I nuzzled my head into the back of his neck, and held onto him like my life depended on it. When I wasn't looking it wasn't as bad, but I refused to lighten my hold until we stopped.

Finally, after what felt like forever, we arrived. I slid off, and Naruto rubbed his neck. "Geez, (Y/N), even through my jacket you almost choked me!"

My face reddened and I tensed up. _It's gonna be hard to get away from here easily if the first person I'm staying with thinks I tried to kill him…_

He laughed and swung his arm around me as he led me through the door. "I'm just joking. Don't worry about anything! I know it's a little scary the first few times you do it!"

I looked up at him and he grinned. He seemed like a really great kid, and I almost began to feel bad for ditching him. But I had no choice.

Naruto took his shoes off before stepping up onto a raised platform that was maintained for the rest of the room, and I followed suit. I didn't really know the customs here yet, so I just imitated what I saw.

I looked around to see my new home for the next little bit. It was simple, with just a bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. Through the window I could see the gates to the Village. I secretly thanked Lady Tsunade for giving me such an easy escape route. _Maybe this will actually work out,_ I thought to myself. To avoid talking to the kid, I examined my surroundings some more. Things were by no means perfectly clean—being a typical teen, the Uzumaki boy had random scroll-like-things scattered around, and plates piled up in the sink. For some reason, however, the little bit of a mess made me more comfortable. It made the kid who could wolf down ramen and run at insanely fast speeds seem a little more real.

"I'm going to take a shower, so you make yourself comfortable. You can sleep on the bed."

"No," I protested, "I'm the guest here, you should really sleep on your bed. I can sleep on the floor…I really don't mind."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, right. You're taking the bed." With that, he closed the bathroom door and I heard the water start. There was no arguing with this kid, was there?

I put my backpack next to my bed, and realized that I had no clothes to change into. Probably a good thing, in all honesty, since changing would just make leaving more of a hassle. I wanted my exit to be a quiet and painless as possible. _But just in case…_

I had eyed a knife sticking out of a small bag on the kitchen counter. Thinking ahead, I decided to grab it. After all, I didn't know how serious these people were about keeping me here to fulfill some stupid 'prophecy'. I wanted to be prepared to fight my way out. So, double checking that Naruto was still in the shower, I snagged the knife and shoved it to the bottom of my backpack. Feeling much safer and much surer of myself, I got into bed.

As weird as I felt sleeping in Naruto's bed and not the floor, the smell of him on the pillow was soothing. Before I knew it, my eyelids felt heavy and I was breathing steadily. _No,_ I thought sleepily, _I cannot fall asleep. Not tonight._

I starting thinking about Ben and what happened to keep myself awake, and realized that despite how awful that experience was, I was beginning to miss my home. I missed my bed, the smell of the burnt toast I always had for breakfast, my poor water pressure, and even my flickering lamp that I used to do my homework every night.

Not having any family left and having very few friends, I never thought I could feel homesick. But, nevertheless, my mind somehow ended up stuck on my mother's face. My father always told me that he was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her smiling eyes could light up a room, and her laugh made even the worst day seem a little brighter. I could always talk to her about everything: friends, school, life, even boys. The more I thought about her, my eyes began to well up. The tears started flowing before I could stop them, and I covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself from whimpering. I hadn't cried over my parents in a long time, but for some reason this new environment made me miss them to an extreme. I slammed my eyes shut to try to slow the tears, but it was no use. I couldn't stop crying.

My eyes flew open, and I realized that I had fallen asleep. The sky was still dark, _Thank God,_ and I saw that Naruto was passed out on the floor next to the bed. _Is that a walrus hat…?_

I slowly swung my legs over to the edge of the bed, and watched his expression the entire time. If he woke up, I would just pretend to be going to the bathroom or getting some water. But luckily, his expression never changed, and I noticed that his pillow was covered with drool. No doubt about it; he was completely asleep.

I carefully walked over to my backpack and slid it onto my shoulders. I eyed the front door and took a deep breath. This was it. I glanced down at Naruto one last time, and silently thanked him for taking care of me—even for only one night. If he lived in my city, I bet we would've been friends.

I slowly made my way to the door, and slipped my sandals on. Explaining my outfit to anybody who saw me when I got back home was going to be interesting, but I could manage. I undid the lock and pushed the door open a little bit at a time, hearing nothing behind me. I smiled, and slipped out into the night.

 _There's no way I can fail._


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Wish I did, but I don't own Naruto

* * *

 _Click._

Naruto's eyes shot open as he heard his door shut. He silently reached for the kunai he always had next to his bed, and froze to listen to his intruder. After straining, he heard nothing. _What criminal doesn't move around?_

He slowly got up off the floor and looked around. He couldn't see anyone, and he didn't smell anything unusual. In fact, in terms of appearance, smell and sound, everything seemed to be how it normally was. He sighed, thinking that he must have dreamed it, and sat back down on the floor to sleep. That's when it hit him.

The Uzumaki boy whipped around and saw that his bed was empty. "(Y/N)! Shit…"

* * *

I was maintaining a light jog through the Village, and held my backpack in front of me to prevent it from moving around on my back and making any unnecessary noises. My eyes were focused on the tip of the gate I could see over the buildings, and my ears were trained on listening to everything around me. If I was going to be ambushed, I wanted to hear it.

My grip on the knife tightened as I thought about a possible ambush. I took my eyes off the gates and they darted around, looking for possible threats. The light of the moon eerily illuminated the streets and made vision fairly low. I heard a crunch to my right and flinched, holding my knife at the ready.

A black cat came out of the alleyway, and I exhaled. _Calm down, (Y/N), calm down…_ I continued on my jog, my senses on full alert as I came up to the gates of the Village. The tall posts and open doors were intimidating, and the lack of some sort of militia to guard the structure was both alarming and cause for celebration. I took a deep breath, and began walking to freedom. However, as my foot crossed the threshold, I heard a voice behind me.

"(Y/N)! What are you doing?" I scrunched my face up from being caught, and knew I had two choices. I could turn around and face whoever was behind me, chancing getting knocked out again, or I could take my chances running and hopefully get deep enough into the woods to shake my pursuer.

I chose the latter.

Taking off at a total sprint, I headed towards the closest patch of woods. "Hey! (Y/N)! What the hell! Where do you think you're going?" _Naruto…Damn it._ I thought I had been careful enough, but apparently I underestimated the depth of his sleep.

I pushed past a tree, using it to propel myself forward, and began to weave through the dense forest. I could hear footsteps behind me, and my adrenaline was pumping. _I'm doing it! I'm going to make it!_ A smile crept onto my face, and I could feel myself slowing down with assured victory. _No! Keep going! Don't slow down!_

I broke through a few branches in my way, and broke into a small clearing. I noticed that the sound of footsteps behind me had long stopped. _Phew,_ I sighed internally, and took a couple seconds to catch my breath.

"Hey, (Y/N), where are you trying to go, anyways?" I jumped three feet into the air and looked all around me. There was no one there. I head a laugh above me, and slowly moved my head up.

 _No way…_

Naruto was on the tree branch above me, _upside down_ and _sticking by his feet_! I gasped and tried to back up, but I tripped over a root and slammed my head into a tree trunk. _Great…this is_ exactly _how I saw this happening…_

"Are you okay?" He—get this— _jumped down_ from the branch, and landed perfectly on his feet. That was the breaking point, and I came to the realization that I was completely terrified of this kid. Was he even human?!

I tried to back up more as he came towards me, but only ended up hitting my head on the tree _again._

"Let me see your head. Where were you going?" He crouched down and reached for my head. Despite me using all my remaining strength to push him away, he brushed me off like I was nothing and pulled my head forward. "You're not bleeding. I'm no medical-nin like Sakura-chan, but I think you'll be okay." I nodded, and looked down. He had me absolutely cornered, and I was becoming overwhelmingly uncomfortable with it. I attempted one last time to get up and move around him, but he forced me back down into the sitting position and kept his hands pressed firmly on my shoulders. I could feel his glare burning its way into my head, but I refused to make eye contact. _I just want to go home…_

A few more tears started to leak out of my eyes, and I cursed under my breath. "(Y/N)-chan?" I looked up. _Chan? What did that mean? That wasn't part of my name._

"Why are you crying?" I took the hem of my shirt and wiped my eyes. I hated crying in front of people, especially in such a vulnerable predicament. Naruto politely looked away while I did so, and I was shocked at his chivalrous gesture.

While averting his eyes, he kept asking me questions. "What's going on? Why were you trying to leave?"

I swallowed. "I want to go home."

He gave me a confused look. "Home? You don't live in Konoha?"

Now it was my turn to be confused. "Konoha?"

"The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Konoha."

 _Oh…but still…he doesn't know?_ "No, I'm not from this place at all. I was thrown into a lake by some assholes and when I woke up I was here. I was attacked by men in painted masks then when I came around I was in a hospital. There I met Lady Tsunade and Sakura, and I was taken to your apartment. Apparently I'm supposed to fulfill some weird prophecy, but I think they have the wrong girl." I looked down at my hands folded in my lap. "I just want to go home." My eyes started welling up again, but I willed the tears down. I was surprised that I cried, to be honest, because my tear ducts have been long dried up from having cried so much earlier in my life.

Naruto sat back and scratched his head. "Well, I don't think anyone should be forced to stay here if they don't want to be, but I have orders from Tsunade-bachan to host you…which I'm pretty sure means I can't let you leave my sight."

I tensed up. _He was going to take me back….he can't take me back! I made it so far!_ Before I could speak out against him, he gave me a thumbs up and continued.

"But, I promise I will find a way to get you home eventually! Believe it!" He was grinning so hard that his eyes were closed, and I couldn't help but smile back. _Naruto was going to help me!_

Without thinking, I leapt up and gave him a massive hug. We both fell over, and he laughed. I, however, managed to hit my head _again_ , and the world was starting to get a little fuzzy.

"(Y/N)-chan? Are you okay?" Naruto leaned over me, and I noticed that he had three heads. _That's not right…._

"I'm…fine…" I managed to get out.

"Alright! Let's get you back home! You can sleep for a while." He picked me up bridal style and jumped up onto the branches above us. His steady heartbeat and the consistent up-and-down motion of his leaping from branch to branch was incredibly soothing, and within a matter of minutes I was asleep.

* * *

Naruto glanced down at the girl in his arms. She was fast asleep, but her forehead was still laced with worry. He hated seeing her like that, seeing anyone like that. He didn't think he could completely understand her situation, since he'd never been forced against his will to live somewhere—with the exception of maybe Konoha while Sasuke was still missing—but he knew that he wanted to help her.

Nobody deserved to be kidnapped by Konoha.


	5. Author's Note

Hey everyone!

This is not a chapter (sorry!), but this is just a quick notice that I will be occasionally revising and updating chapters.

-For example, I just added a part on to chapter 2 that I _thought_ I had at the end, but _completely_ forgot to include.-

I'm working on Chapter 5, and hopefully I'll get it out to you guys by the end of this weekend! Summer's been crazy.

Thank you guys so much, please leave comments and review!

Happy 4th of July to my American readers!


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just my ideas and OC (well, the OC is kind of you…but you get the point).

* * *

I woke up to the sun shining and the sound of birds chirping, but my peaceful morning bliss was quickly brought to an end by the overwhelming stench of rotten milk. Plugging my nose, I got out of bed and walked into the kitchen to see Naruto eating a bowl of cereal…with an open carton of milk next to him.

He greeted me with a mouth full of corn flakes. "Hey, (Y/N)-chan! How'd you sleep?"

Ignoring him, and the weird 'chan' he kept adding to my name, I reached over the table and grabbed the carton of milk. I gagged as I dumped the disgusting liquid down the sink, resulting in a very surprised—and slightly upset—Naruto.

He shot up out of his seat. "Hey! What was that for?"

I turned to face him. "Are you serious? Naruto, that milk was _beyond_ bad. How long have you been drinking that sludge?"

He sat back down and scratched his head. "Bad milk? Oh man, I don't know…a week? I've been on so many missions lately I guess I didn't get a chance to go shopping."

I was still in shock. "You didn't _smell_ it? The smell alone _woke me up_."

"That's not how all milk smells?"

I held my face in my hands and shook my head. _How does this kid live by himself?_ Then I paused. He couldn't have been older than me…why _was_ he living by himself? Where was his family? I was pulled out of my thoughts, however, by a strong yank on my left arm. Naruto pulled my hands away from my face and handed me a bowl of instant ramen. "You need to eat breakfast, (Y/N). We have a big day ahead of us!"

 _A big day…? What the hell did I get myself into? To think this is all because I told Ben 'no'…_

I sat down at the table, and began eating the ramen faster than I thought possible. The food tasted so incredibly amazing that I didn't realize it was burning my mouth until I had finished. _Why was I so hungry? I had two bowls of Ichiraku's last night before we came back here…_ I sat back and tensed up as I began to remember the pieces of last night and how incredibly close I was to my goal…only to be brought right back to where I started.

 _But Naruto promised that he would help me…so he has to. Right? Can I trust him, or is he going to sell me out to Lady Tsunade?_ As if to answer my question, the blonde wonder boy yanked me—quite violently, I might add—out of my seat in the kitchen and threw me my backpack. "Come on, (Y/N)! I have to go train and I can't leave you alone, so you have to come with me!"

The barely-digested food in my stomach sloshed around angrily as Naruto pulled me through his apartment. "Train?"

Naruto grinned and pulled at his protective headband. "Yeah! If I'm going to become Hokage someday, I need to train more than ever to be as strong as I can be!" I thought about Hokage. For some reason, I guess I attributed it to Chinese Dynasties and some sort of linear succession. _Wait…Naruto isn't Lady Tsunade's son, is he?_ I was pondering genetic effects on the different shades of blonde hair when Naruto stepped towards the door in front of me and knelt down. "Here, let's go!" He looked over his shoulder and motioned for me to hop on his back again. I was wary, but knew that I could either get on his back on my own accord or be pulled down. I chose the former.

Naruto shot off, laughing at something he saw in the street below us. How someone who just drank week-old rotten milk could have so much energy, I would never know, but he seemed to have a never-ending supply of it. I smiled at his child-like nature and nuzzled my head into the back of his neck again. The nausea and dizziness was going away the more I traveled like this, but that didn't mean I was totally comfortable with it.

* * *

My stomach growled audibly. We'd been at this same training field for _hours_ now, and although the initial interest I had in his seemingly impossible quick and strong movements was high, it was beginning to wear off.

"Hey, Naruto?"

"Eh, what's up (Y/N)?" He landed three more blows on a wooden post that looked well beyond its prime.

"Is there any way I can swing into the Village and get some food? I don't want to interrupt your training, but I'm not really doing anything here and I'm really hungry." I looked down at the ground while muttering out the last few words. I had a feeling that traveling alone was a luxury I wasn't going to get, but I figured I might as well at least try.

Naruto stopped kicking the post and walked over to me. Panting, he held out a green frog bag. I took it, and opened the zipper. I gasped.

"Is this _money_?"

He grinned.

"You have _so much_ of it!" It was true. The bag was stuffed beyond what it should have been, and I had never seen so much tangible money before in my life. Suddenly, I felt awful. I held the bag back to him, and tried to put it in his hand.

"Take it back. This is way too much." While he denied it, I absolutely could not take this frog from him. It was kind of ridiculous how much trust he had in a near-complete stranger. He couldn't seriously be meaning for me to hold this much money. _Maybe he didn't realize what he was doing?_ AsI was starting to break through to him, my stomach growled again. This time, though, I nearly doubled over in pain. _I guess that instant ramen this morning wasn't enough…_

Naruto laughed. "Don't worry about it. It sounds like you need it more than you're letting on. Take that into town and get yourself whatever food you want!" He started heading back to his post, when he held his hand up. "Town is that way. Oh, and get me some lunch too! I'm starving!"

I looked down at the massive green frog in my hand. It seemed to be begging me to spend money just to ease the pressure on his seams. He honestly looked like he was about to burst. I looked up to ask Naruto if he was sure that it was okay for me to have all this in my possession, but he was already back at it, throwing knives at a tiny black mark on the post in the middle.

I smiled. I could definitely stop my hunger pangs with this. I began to head out into town in the direction that Naruto had pointed me, when I realized that I could no longer see him. I was completely alone.

I took a moment to let that seep in. _I am completely alone._

I took a deep breath and sat down, ignoring the pain in my stomach. I leaned my back up against a tree, and looked around me. The trees were tall and healthy, shooting up towards the sky to indescribable heights. The leaves were vibrant colors of green, and there seemed to be an infinite amount of them. The sunlight fell between the leaves perfectly, lighting up patches of the tall, soft grass below. Beautiful and strange flowers seemed to bloom everywhere; on the ground, up the sides of trees, even in between the crevices in rocks. I heard the chirping of birds above me, and—since I had stopped moving—saw all sorts of animals come out from their hidings spots. Animals that I was familiar with, like squirrels and rabbits, and animals that I had never seen before that were indescribable but a definite part of this area's natural environment.

I felt a pang in my chest, but this time it wasn't from hunger. As I looked at the strong, vibrant plant life around me and watched the natural interactions between animals, I began to feel the intensity of the impact we were having on the environment back home—wherever home was. Somehow, this area of the world had remained untouched and untainted by machinery and greed, and was better for it. The aura of life and beauty that I could feel in this place was amazing, and the amazement I felt in the wilderness back home was dead in comparison.

If it wasn't for the weakness that hunger was spreading through my body, I never would have left. But as the pain in my stomach subsided, I knew it was long past time for me to get food.

I used the tree to get up, and walked myself to the Village. I was careful not to step on any flowers or animals on my way back. I had never been this conscientious of nature beforehand—more rather, I never even _thought_ about nature outside of the few hiking trips I went on—but this was an overwhelming amount of beauty. I had no choice _but_ to be amazed and careful in these woods.

I admired how the sun fell through the leaves, and thought about how people at my school would react to a place like this. Sure, a few of them were cold-hearted like Ben, but maybe they would change if they visited here. Become a little more aware of their surroundings and the people they affected. Maybe they would realize that even though they weren't directly affecting the things around them, that an indirect effect is still an effect. They could realize that people are much like flowers: stepping on them may not kill them, but it will affect their quality of life. That things like that can never be fixed. A crumpled flower will never straighten, and the wounds serve as constant reminders of their imperfection. How they'll never be as tall or as beautiful as the other flowers again because of what they've gone through. How they're incomplete without the leaves that have been ripped off by the sole of the person's shoe. How they're slowly dying, but the life flowing through them tells the world otherwise.

Back at the edge of town, I turned to look at the woods again. I realized that my face was stained with tears, and I tried in vain to wipe them off. After years of holding it in, it seemed that even last night's tears weren't enough. I was crying even more than before, and this time it didn't seem to stop.

I slowly walked through town, the only thing keeping me from staying in the woods being the need for food. The tears kept streaming and I looked at the ground, trying to pick food based on smell rather than risk showing my face. I refused to show this much weakness to these people.

I had walked past a few stores, and smelled lots of things. Most of it, unfortunately, I couldn't determine just by smell. The spices used and the different types of food were way out of my sensory abilities. I was about to give up and start to look around, when I smelled something sweet. Chocolatey. Delicious.

Just like my mom's special chocolate chip cookies.

That was the breaking point—I lost it. I ran through the streets sobbing, and ducked into an alleyway. I held my face in my hands, and cried harder than I thought possible. The audible sounds and constant sniffling must have alerted people to my presence, but nobody stopped to help. I probably wouldn't have noticed them even if they did. I pulled my knees up to my face and was flooded with memories: my dad pushing me on the swing in our backyard, pretending I was an airplane. My brother and I laughing on a bike ride to a nearby ice cream shop. My best friend Annette and that one time we accidentally knocked over a beehive and her mom had to pull five bee stings from our arms alone. My mom baking her special chocolate chip cookies, and my dad's reaction every time: 'Wow, Jennifer, you have really outdone yourself this time!' Lastly, despite all of my attempts to stop it, I remembered what I was trying so hard not to remember. What I had tried so hard to suppress for all of these years.

 _There was smoke, so much smoke…I tried to turn the doorknob, but it burnt my hand at the touch. I staggered back from the pain, and knocked into a chair. I could hear my mom somewhere on the other side of the door screaming my name. I called back to her, but she couldn't hear me. I got up and pounded on the door, crying as I tried to get her to hear me. To know where I was. She needed me. I needed her. She called me one last time, but her screaming stopped halfway through my name as an impossibly loud noise echoed throughout the house. That was the last thing I would ever hear her say._

I felt a nudge on my arm. I slowly raised my head, my face still soaking wet from tears, and saw a kabob with meat and vegetables on it. Instincts took over and—while keeping my head down—I grabbed the food without thinking, forcing myself to chew and eat slowly. Finished, I set the stick down, and pulled myself even tighter into my knees. Another nudge brought forth another kabob. I took this one too, eating it more slowly than the first, but my stomach was not satisfied until I had finished the third one.

"I thought you might be hungry," a voice said in a hushed tone.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Sorry it took so long to post—work is exhausting and I just haven't had a lot of free time lately. Again, please review! I would really appreciate your guys' comments and critiques, and I am so glad that so many of you are reading! Thanks guys, keep doing you.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Well, unfortunately, I still don't own Naruto. My lawyers just don't seem to be arguing hard enough.

* * *

I looked up through tear-stained hair and was greeted by a warm face. The Hokage was leaning against the other wall of the alley.

A slight wave of panic rolled over me. _Does she know about last night? Am I going to be taken away to some prison cell where they can make sure I never try to run away again? Will I have to eat stale bread and water for every meal?_ Then the worst thought crossed my mind.

 _Will I be stuck here forever?_

The Hokage smiled at me. She must have noticed my tension, because she leaned towards me and placed her and on my shoulder. "This must be a lot for you to take in." She motioned to the people passing us along the street: normal folk, carrying groceries, lumber, or just talking with friends. But scattered among them, constantly alert, were the shinobi. They all had pouches of knives and headbands just like Naruto and Sakura, and smiled at us as they passed.

That was another thing. They _all_ noticed us. A couple walked over to say hi to Lady Tsunade or inquire about why she was in an alleyway, but most just continued on their way. I looked at the woman crouching in front of me and tried to figure out what about her was so intimidating that even people with the same abilities as Naruto would be scared even to say hello.

I nodded in a response to her question. It _was_ a lot to take in—especially the whole "superhuman-abilities" thing.

She took her hand off my shoulder, and handed me a tissue from her bag. I wiped the wetness off my face and blew my nose, grateful to have stopped crying and to be able to breathe again. I opened my mouth to convey my gratitude, when she began speaking in a serious tone.

"I heard about last night."

 _Oh, shit._

"I'm sure you didn't actually think we would allow you to live with a single shinobi, especially Naruto, without other surveillance, right?"

It was hard to swallow. I looked down at my knees. _She knows._

"I hope you are aware that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated from _anyone_ in the Leaf, and especially not you. Do I need to remind you that you hold the key for the survival of this entire Village? Maybe even the Great Five Nations?"

 _Well, let's be optimistic about this. At least when I go to prison I'll have enough free time to get into shape like I've always wanted._

I moved my wrists around, enjoying their last few moments of freedom. I've always hated the idea of handcuffs, and, well, any inability to move in general.

"So, in regards to the events of the night before, I just have one question." I looked up at her, expecting to see the rage of God instilled in her eyes, but instead was met with a kind, open face. "Why?"

The question caught me off guard. I thought that was obvious? I want to go home. I don't belong here. Everything is terrifying and new and I miss my tiny apartment a block from the library.

"We aren't here to hurt you, (Y/N). In fact, quite the opposite. I wasn't going to tell you this because it might defeat the purpose of the whole process, but…" She sighed. "You aren't living with the Uzumaki boy because we want to see if Uchiha Sasuke is a good host. We know he's a good host."

My mind was reeling. She lied to me in the hospital?

"You're living with the Uzumaki boy until you get accustomed to Konoha—the Leaf Village—and can move into your own area in the Uchiha residence. It's fairly secluded and Sasuke won't bother you. It's much safer for you in there than in an individual complex by, say, Naruto."

My brows furrowed. Everything was being flipped on its head. The first person I had an actual interaction with in this place—the woman who made things start to make sense—had lied to me? Was this a joke? Was she waving freedom in front of my face so I would be more compliant in the future? _Likely, but not probable. If that was the case, I doubt she would be crouching in an alleyway with me…and I doubt she would have bought me food. I know_ I _wouldn't get food for someone I saw as a danger to my city._

I loosened up a bit, and took a deep breath. _Okay. I think I can handle that. Plus, alone time means less supervision. Which means I can take more time to strategize and execute my escape._

Lady Tsunade smiled at me. "A woman of many words, huh?" I could feel the sarcasm, but it was light. I smiled back, and she patted me on the knee as she stood up. "I need to get back to work before Shizune has an aneurism." She held out her hand and helped me stand, then headed towards the street. "Before I leave, however, I want to remind you that you aren't just here to have a good time." _Well good, because I wasn't doing that in the first place_. "In order to be the key to the prophecy, you need to train and become capable of holding your own in battle. Talk to Naruto. He should be able to help. Speaking of which, you should head home. He's probably started to search the entire city with his shadow clones by now." She waved, and she was gone.

 _Shadow clones?_ I picked up the sticks from my food and stepped out onto the streets. My face was still in pretty rough shape from crying so much, but nobody seemed to pay me much attention. _What the hell is a shadow clone? And why did she have to remind me about the stupid prophecy…_

As if on cue, I saw Naruto bolting down the street and skidding to a stop when he noticed me. "(Y/N)!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and started yelling in multiple directions. "I found her! By Ino's flower shop! She's here!"

Before I could process my confusion, I saw five other Naruto's jump down to the street. _Shadow clones._ At least Lady Tsunade warned me a little bit.

"(Y/N)!"

"Goddamnit (Y/N), don't do that!"

"I thought you tried to leave again!"

All six of the Naruto's charged at me, and even though I knew there was no point to it, I ran. I mean, what the hell was I supposed to do? _Six clones of the same person_ were charging after me! I raced down the street, trying to evade people and merchant carts, but it was to no avail. Two strong hands grabbed me by the waist and suddenly I was flying through the air.

I screamed.

Naruto laughed.

I was starting to notice a trend.

As we were leaping over rooftops, much against my will, the hands dropped me mid-air. I tumbled down towards the street, screaming my head off, until I landed _hard_ on the back of anotherNaruto. I heard a loud _poof_ behind me, and turned around to see that the clones had disappeared. The Naruto I was sitting on was the real one.

He zig-zagged around poles and ran circles around buildings, purposefully coming ridiculously close to hard objects before jumping to the side and avoiding them. I clung onto his shirt so intensely that my fingernails started to rip holes into is, and even behind his back the air was forcing _more_ water out of my eyes. If that was even possible. He finished the ride by leaping down from the roof of an incredibly tall building, flipping a few times, and then landing perfectly on the ground. Needless to say, I don't think I've ever shrieked as much as I did that afternoon.

"That", he said breathlessly as he let me down, "was for scaring the crap out of me."

I narrowed my eyes at the idiot, but couldn't help but smile. That's what he was, after all, an idiot. A blonde idiot who was just following orders. I scratched my head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Oh!" I reached into my backpack and handed him his green frog back. "I didn't spend any of it. You can count it if you don't believe me."

He took the bag, but paused. "If you didn't spend any of it, you didn't eat anything! You need to eat!" He stuffed the bag in his pouch and started to pull me towards him. I, however, was not having any of that. I seriously needed a break from the whole jumping insane heights and running at ridiculous speeds.

"No! I ate! I promise."

He looked at me with a goofy grin on his face. "Silly, if you ate, then how did you avoid spending money?"

I paused. Should I tell him about Lady Tsunade? _He probably already knows…_ "Lady Tsunade brought me some food while I was wandering around."

"Wait…Lady Tsunade bought you food? She never buys _me_ food!" He seemed to be pouting. _Was my story not believable? Shit….I've got to…um…_

"Um…well, she um…she said it was her apology for kidnapping me. She wanted to try to make me feel more comfortable here in Konoha."

Naruto scratched his head, looking at me with a weird expression on his face. "Well,,,I guess you're just lucky. Tomorrow I'm going to walk right up to her door and demand that she buys me Ichiraku's! With all that we've been through…" Naruto's muttering became incoherent, and I noticed that the wind had started to pick up a little bit. I shivered as its cold fingers brushed across my bare arms. Sakura hadn't given me any kind of coat when she picked out my outfit, so I was at a bit of a loss when it came to evenings.

He stopped muttering. "You're cold," he observed. "Here." He slipped off his jacket and put it around my shoulders.

"Oh, no, really I'm fine." I started to take it off, but he pushed it back up my arms.

"Keep it. I don't need it."

I noticed the lack of goosebumps on his arms. He really didn't need it. In that case, I smiled and thanked him, and began walking to the stairs to get to his apartment. _Maybe Sakura didn't give me a jacket on purpose._

"Oh, no. (Y/N) you lost your walking privileges when I lost you for the second time in a day." I scooped me up and was carrying me bridal-style up the stairs before I could get a word in edgewise. 'I swear I'm going to buy a leash for you or something. Maybe a balloon so I can find you in a crowd."

I laughed at the idea. I imagined Naruto following a bright red balloon through a crowd of people. If he tried that one, I would definitely have to tie it onto a cat or something just to mess with him.

We reached his door, and he set me down. I followed him in, taking our shoes off, and he motioned for me to sit on his couch. I complied, finding it more comfortable and, well, _clean_ than I had originally expected. I heard the clinking of pots in the kitchen, and a few minutes later Naruto appeared with some tea on a tray.

"You made tea?"

He laughed. The sound seemed to fill the room. "Is that surprising?" Well, yeah. The idea shocked me. Partially since all I'd seen the boy ingest since I'd been here was ramen, and also because I'd never seen a guy make tea before. Not to sound sexist, but when I think about every movie I've ever seen and every interaction involving tea, a girl always made the tea. I just wasn't expecting it.

He handed me a cup and sat down on the couch with his own, facing me with his massive blue eyes. I had never noticed how large they were before, or how bright his eyes were. For a moment, I thought I could see a cloud pass by his pupil. He held my gaze for a few moments until I finally snapped out of my daze. I shifted uncomfortably. "I know Tsunade didn't buy you food out of the blue. She wouldn't do that."

My eyes widened a little. _He knows._ I stiffened back, but he reached his hand out and gently held my cheek. "Come on, (Y/N), I may not be the brightest but I'm not stupid. Your face is puffy. Your eyes are still a little pink." I looked away, knowing what he was getting at. I couldn't talk about it now. Not when I had finally stopped crying about it.

Naruto, however, wasn't having my reluctance. He set his tea down on the tray and used both of his hands to gently guide my face back to him. "Now," he started, "what were you crying so hard about?"

* * *

Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying it so far. I decided I needed to start adding a little bit more fluff now that the characters have been through a little bit more, but I don't plan on dropping any major romance bombs too soon. That would spoil the fun! So just a little fluff for now.

Also, new characters will be coming in during the next couple of chapters, so PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me if I'm ever getting OOC.

Read and review! Love you all, and happy weekend!


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! I tried to make this chapter a little bit longer since I got some complaints about them being short, but I'm not sure how successful I was. Let me know! Also, I don't like to tell ages in my fanfic because when I'm reading those of others, I like to imagine everyone as being my age. So maybe, if you really want an age, I would say late teens for everyone, if not early twenties. But if you're 16, then make them 16. I haven't seen enough of the anime or read enough of the manga to be able to follow the story to a T. Love you all!**

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I tried to pull his hands away from my face, but Naruto wouldn't budge. I started trembling. "N-Naruto, please let me go." I could feel the pressure building up behind my eyes again and wanted nothing more than to lock myself in the bathroom. I really, _really_ didn't want the people here to see my cry. Lady Tsunade already had, and it emanated a weakness that I refused to show anyone else. "I really don't want to talk about this." My voice cracked on the last word, and his face flushed with sympathy.

"Okay, now I _know_ something's wrong." His eyes were full of caring, and something about his demeanor made me just want to break down and tell him everything. _But if you tell him, he'll think you're weak. They died four years ago…if he finds out that you're still this shaken up about this, then he might think you're too pathetic to be helped. He won't even bother. You_ need _his help. Damn it, (Y/N), he can't know!_

A switch flipped inside my head. I stopped trembling, and the tears receded. I straightened my shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "I'm fine."

He moved his hands down from my face so that they rested gently on either side of my neck. His eyes were large and full of caring, but I was immune.

"(Y/N)…you can tell me anything. Are you sure you're okay?"

Surprisingly, yes. I felt fine. I had just built another wall—something I hadn't had to do in a very long while. For now, at least from Naruto, I was safe. I exhaled and my body relaxed.

"Positive." I flashed a toothy smile, and he apprehensively took his hands off me. He didn't respond. I don't think he knew how to respond. Actually, I just don't think he quite knew how to handle the girl who was so incredibly bipolar, but by the analytical way he looked at me, I could tell he was trying to figure it out.

We both raised our tea cups to our mouths in an attempt to break the awkward silence, but before I could taste the warm drink there was a pounding at the door. Naruto sprang up and ran for the entrance, his urgency matching that of the knocker's. He pulled the door open, and I saw a tuft of very wet pink hair next to his shoulder.

Sakura.

"Naruto, your presence has been requested by Lady Tsunade. At once." Her tone was very formal and somewhat urgent.

"At once? Right now?" He nodded abruptly and turned sharply to his room. I sat in the couch in awe as I watched him pack a backpack faster than I had previously thought to be humanly possible. While he was rummaging under his bed for something, I turned to Sakura. She remained outside of the doorway, sopping wet. It was then that I noticed the pouring rain outside, and the thunder that accompanied. She must be freezing.

"Sakura, why don't you come in?" I asked, trying to be hospitable even though I wasn't even in my own home. I immediately regretted my words. Was it impolite to invite someone in to someone else's house here? Did I cross a line?

Sakura just shook her head sharply. "No, (Y/N)-chan, but thank you." _That weird chan thing again…_ "I actually came for two reasons. To inform Naruto of an extremely urgent mission in need of the Jinchuuriki, and to move you to your new temporary home."

"New…home?" Damn, just when I was starting to get accustomed to Naruto's tiny place. Speaking of the devil, he shot out the door past Sakura and bounded towards Lady Tsunade—wherever she was.

"See ya, (Y/N)!"

I sighed. Sakura turned back to me.

"Hai. Go pack your things and I'll explain on the way." She turned to shut the door to allow me privacy, but whipped back around at the last second. "Oh, and (Y/N)? We have to travel the fast way. I know it's not your favorite, but I'm assigned to this mission as well and need to get to Lady Tsunade's office as soon as possible."

I smiled at her. "No worries, Sakura. After the ride Naruto gave me last night, I'm sure running with you will be like floating on a lazy river or something. I'll be quick!" She tilted her head to the side and gave me a confused look. Apparently they didn't have water parks in Konoha. I waved her off and she closed the door to allow me to finish packing. It wasn't a long process, since all I really had with me was my backpack, a spare change of clothing, a pocket knife that I always kept in my side pocket, a knife I found on the floor by Naruto's bed, and a cell phone that was already dead. I kept that purely out of habit. And addiction.

I opened the door, and Sakura was standing at the ready for me to jump on her back. She wasn't kidding about needing to get to Tsunade quickly. I climbed on, and she shot off faster than I had ever traveled before. Even though the ride was much smoother than my previous one, it was much faster and I wasn't exactly prepared. The hard rain stung my face and I almost fell off at the jerky start, but Sakura wrapped her arms around my legs and held me with an iron grip. _How strong_ is _this woman…?_

I thought about it. She had to be close to my age, which meant she was 17 at least, maybe 20 at most. I wasn't sure. The fact that a girl so similar to me in stature and age could be so strong and so fast…well, it made me more curious about chakra, that's for sure. I decided I would ask her or Naruto about it when they got back. _If they get back…_ A tiny voice whispered in the back of my mind, but I shoved it aside. I knew the ninja were like soldiers, but I hoped their battles weren't as dangerous and extreme as the ones I grew up with.

"We're here," Sakura called over her shoulder. I went to respond, but the stinging rain made it hard to concentrate on much besides shielding my face. I gave her a thumbs up and she laughed. The weather didn't seem to be bothering her.

Then I realized what she had just said. _Here…my new temporary home._

I tried to squint through the rain, but it wasn't until we came to a complete stop (arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times) that I could actually look around.

And I was terrified, to say the least.

This was nothing like Naruto's tiny, warm, comfortable apartment. This was a sprawling kingdom, almost like a tiny city within Konoha. Sakura led me to a large building near the center of the complex, and knocked on the door. I couldn't see any lights on anywhere, and the whole place was eerily silent.

"I have to go, but Sasuke-kun will take good care of you! Bye!" And with that, she shot off into the night.

 _So…the infamous "Sasuke-kun", eh?_ I looked around at the tiny city, and noticed a strange fan-shape design painted and printed absolutely everywhere. All of them were slightly faded or chipped, and it made me apprehensive. _Where is everyone? Why isn't this place kept up? Does this all belong to just Sasuke…?_ The wind blew more rain into my face, and I tensed up. This was the perfect setting for a horror movie: there was a creepy, seemingly abandoned house, stormy weather, and it was nearly pitch black outside. I already thought Sasuke might be a serial killer…this wasn't helping. _Why isn't he answering the door?_

As if he heard my thoughts, the door swung open and I jumped a few feet into the air. I spun around to tell off the idiot who just scared the crap out of me, but when I faced the kid I was too terrified to talk. With jet black hair and onyx eyes that seemed to delve into my soul, there was no way words were coming out of my mouth. I had never seen someone so incredibly intimidating before, and he was glaring. At _me. And_ I hadn't even done anything yet!

Despite my loss for words, however, internally I was freaking out. _I'M SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITH HIM?_ I wanted to run back to Naruto's apartment. Now I knew without a doubt that he was a serial killer.

I was truly debating on turning and running when he walked back into the building, the candle he was holding lighting up the hallway as he walked.

"Follow me."

Awestruck at the stark difference between this guy and the other few people I had met, it took me a second to process what he had said. But, since I didn't exactly want to be left outside at night in the rain, I quickly jumped inside and closed the door.

He was waiting impatiently at a junction to a hallway, so I decided to skip the sightseeing and follow. I seriously didn't want to piss off the guy I had to live with in the first five minutes. That, and if he told Tsunade anything bad about me, I couldn't get my own place or escape back home. So, following the rude, black-haired boy it was.

He took me down a barrage of hallways, and I found myself getting lost after the first three turns. I stayed close to him as not to lose him and be glared at again, but that backfired when he abruptly stopped and I ran straight into his back.

I rubbed my sore nose, but he didn't react. _What's with this guy…?_

"You room is here." And with that, he turned and left back the way he came, leaving me staring at him open-mouthed in the dark. I felt like punching a wall.

 _That was it? "Your room is here"?! Are you freaking kidding me? I don't even know where the hell I am in this stupid complex, let alone where a_ bathroom _is, and "your room is here" is all I get? Are you serious?_

At that moment, I realized that I was beginning to hate him for being so cold and for abandoning me. I had absolutely no idea why girls fawned over him so much. Sure, his looks were attractive in that they were _weird_ (like, who has black eyes? Seriously! And the duck butt hair? Come _on._ ), but he was a complete asshole. At least Naruto walked me through everything. This guy just expected me to get it on my own. Which, _hello_ , I couldn't do! Even though I had a handle on the taking-off-your-sandals thing, that's about all I had grasped. Everything here was so incredibly foreign to me, and suddenly, without a guide or friend to help me, I felt completely overwhelmed.

Left with no other option, I turned to step into my new room. The ceiling was cavernous, and the walls were painted a dark purple. I think. The single candle lamp in the room next to the bed was not doing much for the whole "serial killer" aesthetic. The bed was massive and had a plush comforter on top, and there were a barrage of pillows strewn by the headboard. The room itself was rather large, and there were intricately carved dressers and a vanity spread against the walls of the room. If I hadn't been so pissed off, I would have been amazed that a living space so large was _mine._

Out of pure rage, I threw my backpack across my room knocking it noisily against a dresser. I slammed the door, and then leapt on my bed. Thinking back on it, I actually feel awful for that pillow. It didn't deserve half of the beating that it took, and it definitely didn't deserve to be thrown out the window like it was. But I was angry. I was scared, confused, and now very suddenly alone. And I had to live with an asshole.

 _Lightbulb._

I didn't have to live with the asshole. The asshole wasn't watching me. He seemed to hate having me. He couldn't possibly care less about what I was doing right now. _The asshole would never know._

Maybe moving in with the asshole was a positive change, after all.

* * *

I grabbed my backpack from where I had thrown it and stepped to the door. I had my knife from Naruto's in my hand, and my pocket knife handy in my backpack side pouch. I had snagged a few waters from the mini fridge in my room, and still had a couple packs of almonds from when I was attacked by Ben. I shook any doubts from my head, and opened the door.

Nobody was there. Just like I thought. I looked both ways down the hallway, and breathed a sigh of relief. So he really _didn't_ care what I was doing. For some reason, though, the sigh was more for show. Something tugged at my stomach. Why didn't he care about me? What kind of first impression did I leave? What made me not good enough for "Sasuke-kun"?

I shook the thoughts from my mind, quietly closed my door, and crept down the hallway the opposite way from which I saw Sasuke go earlier. I hid behind statues when I thought I heard footsteps, and jumped anytime I saw light from the moon coming in windows. My heart was beating a million times a minute, and my adrenaline was flowing. As I neared the door, I hid behind a tree and saw that the key for the lock was hanging right by the door handle. I looked around, and didn't see anyone around. The only sounds were the crickets, the wind, and the dripping of water into a pool. _Now's my chance!_

I leapt out from behind the tree and sprinted on my tip toes towards the key. I could see the glint of the bronze, and my freedom seemed so close. _Oh,_ f _reedom!_

However, my glory was short-lived. My finger tips barely grazed the metallic surface of the keys when I was yanked back by a vice-like grip on my left wrist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

I struggled against the grip of my assailant to no avail, and looked up to see Sasuke's face lit up in the moonlight. If it was even possible, he looked even _more_ intimidating this way. I tried to force my wrist out of his grip, and remembered something. _I'm holding a knife!_

I didn't want to stab him, of course, but maybe I could scare him into letting me leave. I threw my right hand up in a position to attack, but before I could even blink he had stripped me of the knife as well as my backpack, and spun me around so my back was into his chest and my arms were restrained.

"Answer my question." With that, he picked me up off the ground, so that my feet were dangling. And that made me _mad._

I struggled, writhed, kicked, and flung my head around, anything I could think of to escape. I fought with all of my might. Who the hell did this guy think he was, holding me in the air like this? _I'm not some freaking rag doll!_ But it was futile. He held me up and restrained in an iron hold until I was utterly exhausted, and he carried me back to my room in the same manner. I was uncomfortable, to say the least. He put me down on my bed, then locked the door and was back before I could even move to get up.

"Something you should know about me is that I don't like repeating things."

 _Yeah, and I don't like being held against my will, but we don't all get what we want, do we buck-o?_

He glared at me, and I could feel my resolve shrinking a little. But, mustering up all the courage I had, I crossed my arms and glared back. I noticed it—I don't know how—but his eyebrows moved up the slightest bit…in amusement, maybe? I didn't know him well enough to be able to tell.

After a few minutes, I sighed. "Fine," I said. He sniffed, and nodded at me to continue. "I was trying to escape."

For an instant, his face looked distorted—as if I had just said the weirdest thing. But just as quickly it reverted back to his icy cold glare. "Hn."

 _Hn?_ I scoffed and fell backwards onto my bad. "Get out of my room."

He walked out the door so quietly that I didn't even know he had left until I heard the clicking of a lock on my door. His voice rang steely low outside the door. "You're welcome for the pillow."

I didn't know what to feel. I was outraged at the fact that he had just _locked me in my room_ , but I was also extremely confused when I realized that he had brought my poor, bruised-up pillow back to my bed. _When did he do that? Is that how he knew I was trying to leave?_

In my angst and confusion I didn't remember falling asleep, but the next thing I knew I shot awake to a pounding on my door. It was daylight, and I had to squint my eyes to see anything.

"It's unlocked," came a voice from outside of my door. "You're free to do as you please."

I rolled my eyes and flopped back on the bed. _Well geez, thanks for the permission, dad._

As soon as I thought it, I cringed. I would have given anything to have been able to be snarky with my dad now. But if I saw him, I wouldn't be snarky at all—no, I would never be rude to him, my mom, or my brother again. I took my time with them for granted, and I regretted that with all of my being.

I started trembling, but forced it down. I needed to get my bearings in this massive complex, maybe even track Sasuke's living patterns before I allowed myself to be weak. If I could predict his movements, and if I knew my way around, maybe I could escape without even needing Naruto's help.

For a second, I paused. What did I even want to go back to? For all I knew, Ben and his goons could be searching everywhere for me to finish what they started. And even if they weren't, my home was infinitely smaller than my room now. I didn't have a family, and no friends either. I had everything that I didn't have at home, at my home here.

 _But I don't belong here. I can feel it. I need to go back._ And not only that, but I was expected to put my life on the line for some weird prophecy that I never even agreed to, really. I was threatened into every agreement. _I have to get back._

I decided to take a walk. I changed into some fresh clothes, grabbed my backpack, ran a brush through my hair, and stepped out of the room. I felt disgusting since I didn't shower the night before, but I figured I would wait and address that until I saw Sasuke again and could ask for directions to a shower. There was a toilet connected to my room.

I ended up wandering into the kitchen— _thank GOD, I was starving_ —and saw a basket of tomatoes sitting on the counter. I snagged one, rinsed it off in the sink, and bounded out the front door while eating the tomato like an apple. I aimlessly walked around Sasuke's massive house, eventually coming upon a massive lake with a dock and a field with three large poles near it. _Just like where Naruto trained_ , I thought.

I immediately remembered what Tsunade had told me: " _In order to be the key to the prophecy, you need to train and become capable of holding your own in battle"._ I decided to drop bag and try my hand on training for a bit. Not that I knew what that meant, exactly.

I tried to recall what Naruto did yesterday when I watched his training session. So much had happened, it was hard to believe that it was just yesterday. I tried to remember his stance, which was a bit of a squat with one leg slightly in front of the other. I attempted to imitate his initial stance, took a deep breath, then punched the middle wooden pole. _Hard._

" _Shit…_ " I muttered, holding my injured hand to my stomach and walking backwards from the pole. _Maybe I should stick to push ups…_

"Akamaru! Wait!"

I turned my head to the disturbance, and saw a white dog burst through the brush to my left. A boy with strange red marks on his face and a fur hood came quickly bounding after. "Akamaru! Seriously! This is Uchiha property!"

The dog seemed to sense me, made a quick point turn, and sprinted towards me. He knocked me flat onto my back and began licking my face. Once I got over the initial shock, I laughed and petted his head. The boy with the red marks came running up trying to cover up a laugh.

"Akamaru! Get off!" He smiled when he saw me laughing at the dog trying to lick my face off, and barked at the dog one more time before it finally caved and obeyed its master. The boy held out a hand and helped me up, and I noticed that the marks on his face were part of his skin, just like Naruto's.

"I'm Kiba," he said, showing a toothy grin and holding out his hand.

"(Y/N)," I replied, shaking it. He looked incredibly confused and pulled his hand back, dropping the dog treat to the ground. Akamaru ran over to it and ate it happily, and my face flushed a shade of pink as I realized that I misread his motion. I stuttered to redeem myself.

"I'm so sorry, I just…where I'm from that's a sign of…um…that's the way we say….we…um…we greet each other that way."

He tilted his head and a smirk played across his lips. "You're weird," he commented, his smirk turning into a full grin. "I'm glad I met you, (Y/N)."

I was taken aback—and slightly insulted—by his comment, and even more confused when his face turned grim. He was looking behind me. "A-Akamaru, we need to go! Now!" He leaned to my ear and whispered, "I'm not trying to get Chidori'd anytime soon!" With that, he turned and high-tailed it out of there with his white, fluffy companion.

 _Chidori'd…?_ Out of curiosity—and possibly fear—I whipped around to see what Kiba had ran away from, and could've sworn on my life that I saw a black duck-butt flash past a window inside the house.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that took so long! It's been kind of a busy, rough summer with work, getting the stomach flu, and my Uncle passing away early this week. Hopefully I can get another chapter out before I leave for my backpacking trip on Aug 6** **th** **! Thank you guys so much for reviewing and reading, love you all!**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey there! Lots of breaks in this chapter. Just...try to roll with me. This won't become a frequent thing, I promise! Just needed to explain some stuff. Love you all!**

* * *

After I tried my hand at kicking the training post—with much more success than I had with punching, might I add-I was completely and utterly exhausted. The sun was still high in the sky, which probably put me somewhere in the afternoon, and I took to sitting in the shade of the post to relax and drink my water.

 _I'm really gonna need some help if I'm ever going to get anywhere with this training,_ I thought bitterly to myself. I knew that my stance for kicking was getting stronger and my kicks themselves were getting stronger, but I had no idea if I was even doing it correctly to begin with.

I sighed, leaning back against the post and closing my eyes. I thought about Naruto and Sakura, and wondered what they were doing on their mission. _How_ they were doing. I remember Sakura mentioning something to Naruto before he left…Jin-something? I got the impression that it was something that applied strictly to Naruto, or Lady Tsunade wouldn't have had him move me. At least, I hoped that's what possessed her to transfer me to this hell-hole. I mean, she had I had _just_ talked about the fact that I was living with Naruto to get acclimated to the city. Didn't she realize that I would be less apt to help them with this insane prophecy if I hated the people I was living with—and therefore the whole city.

I inhaled deeply, and exhaled deeply in return. I needed to calm down. Freaking out about things I couldn't change at the moment wasn't going to help anything. I knew that I couldn't focus on trying to escape until I knew how this complex and the city mapped out, and when I knew Sasuke wasn't paying attention. I was starting to get the impression that he was more aware than I previously gave him credit for, so all I could focus on for now was training to be able to hold my own.

Not for the prophecy, though. No, once Naruto trains me, I'll be high-tailing my way past all of these semi-terrifying ninja and back to the lake. I figured if the lake spat me out, it had to suck me back in as well.

At least, I hoped.

The warm wind blew past my face as I relaxed against the pole. The air here was extremely clean, something I hadn't taken the time to notice until now. Living even in a small town had polluted the air by my house, and the air that I thought was clean there was nothing compared to the crispness of the wind blowing by me now.

I felt so at peace as the birds chirped and the leaves rustled in the wind, and for the first time in a few days, let my guard down.

And fell asleep.

* * *

He walked up to the figure lying on the ground, and was careful to walk around her hair that was spread across the packed earth. He knew how Sakura and Ino felt about their hair, for whatever reason, and this girl was probably the same.

He looked down at her and immediately tensed up. It was as he had feared when he had seen her lying there from the window. He couldn't sense her chakra. Her breathing wasn't apparent. And since he wasn't medical nin, he couldn't tell if she had a heartbeat.

"(Y/N)."

His low voice seemed to fill the entire training field as he looked down. She had just moved in last night. If she was dead, this was _not_ going to look good to the Elders.

"(Y/N)." He raised his voice this time, nudging her shoulder with his foot. No response. He remained cool and calm, kneeling down to poke the girl's cheek. "(Y/N)." Still no response.

Sasuke took a deep breath, and placed his fingers on her wrist. He couldn't locate her pulse anywhere. _Shit. She wasn't even here for one whole fucking day._

He began to panic a little bit, but kept it well contained on the inside. Before he ran to the hospital, he thought he should try one more thing. There was no need to get people unnecessarily involved. He gripped the girl's shoulders and lightly shook her.

Nothing. _Either this girl is dead, or she sleeps like a freaking rock._

He maintained a tighter grip on the girl's slender shoulders, and shook her more firmly. He was adamant that he was going to wake up, and when Uchiha Sasuke decided that something was going to happen, it happened.

"(Y/N), goddamnit, wake up!" He shook her so hard her entire body convulsed. He didn't care so much about the state of her hair anymore.

* * *

I woke up abruptly to the entire world moving up and down and immediately went into a very panicked state. I saw a flash of black somewhere in the middle of the rapid movement, and I punched out as a high-pitched yelp escaped my throat. My fist made contact with something, and I heard a crunch.

The movement stopped, and I quickly took stock of my surroundings. I was still in the training field, and the sun had moved a considerable amount towards what I assumed was the west. The most surprising thing, however, was the man with one hand on my shoulder (and one hand on his bleeding nose) staring intensely into my eyes.

 _Sasuke…?_

I felt extremely uncomfortable, and my entire body tensed up. He hadn't moved a muscle, and was still intently staring into my eyes with an expressionless glare. _Why is he glaring at me…? And why is he still holding on to my shoulder…?_

My heartbeat began beating out of my chest, and I was worried that the figure on top of me would hear it. I cleared my throat awkwardly, and after a pause he was off me within a millisecond. This was, hands down, the most awkward situation I had been in to date. The infamous "Sasuke-kun" had just been basically on top of me, hands on my shoulders, shaking the hell out of me. _I mean, honestly…I must have missed something…why was the mysterious-and-creepy Sasuke touching me?_

I leaned back on my elbows to push myself up, and he immediately stood up. He turned his back to me slightly, and looked to the lake…while holding his sleeve up to his nose. "I thought you were dead," he muttered under his breath.

I paused, processed his words, and burst out laughing. "What?" I stood up and walked over to him, trying to hold my laughter in. "You thought I was dead?" He frowned and let go of his nose, which had finally stopped bleeding. "I mean, I've been told I sleep like the dead, is that what you mean?" I giggled, and he began walking back to the house.

My smile dropped as I realized he was upset that I had laughed at him. "Wait," I blurted out, as I grabbed my pack and jogged up beside him. "You're kidding me, right?"

He clenched his jaw and continued walking in silence, looking straight ahead. _What is this guy's problem?_ "I was joking."

No response.

"I'm a really heavy sleeper and I'm sorry I freaked you out, but take a joke already, geez."

It took me a couple steps to realize that he had stopped dead in his tracks, and I turned around to face him, expecting…well, anything other than what I got, really. I was met with an intense, icy glare formed by _red_ eyes that seemed to shoot daggers into my own. I had never been more scared of a human being than I was at that moment.

"You don't know anything." He spat out the last word, and I shrank back a step. "You didn't have a pulse, and you hardly have any chakra in your body. It was a reasonable assumption." I swallowed hard as he took a step towards me.

"Stay off the training field."

I started shaking, but managed to get a word out. "What?"

"Stay. Off. The training field."

"But…why?" As soon as the words escaped my mouth I knew that I had made a mistake.

His eyes locked with mine, and suddenly the horizon became fuzzy. The ground began intermixing with the sky, and everything around me began to swirl together.

My surroundings were constantly churning together in a disturbing mix of reds, blues, purples and blacks. All sound disappeared, but immediately an intense ringing sound pounded my brain. I dropped to my knees from the pain, eyeing Sasuke out of the corner of my eyes. He was the only other distinguishable thing I could make out.

Lo and behold, he hadn't moved an inch. All of this was happening and he was standing perfectly unharmed.

 _He's the one doing this to me…_

"If you even think about training, there will be hell to pay."

With that, the world became normal and the ringing sound disappeared abruptly. He walked coolly into the house, leaving me shaking and on my knees. I held my head in my hands, and flinched as I heard the sliding door slam shut.

 _What the hell was that?_ The world had literally changed shape, and how my head still hurt from the intense and overwhelming ringing that had seemed to envelop my entire being. _How powerful is this kid?_ I shuddered. I really didn't want to go through that again.

" _Stay off the training field,"_ he had said. But I had to train. I _needed_ to train. If I didn't train, I wouldn't be able to leave. I gripped my head tighter and scooted myself under the nearest tree. Curling my knees in tightly, my mind snapped back and forth between Sasuke leaning over me, holding my shoulders, thinking I was _dead,_ and putting me through something that was immensely painful. He had tried to save my life and kill me all within five minutes.

 _This is all too much…I just want to go home where everything makes sense._

Through my confusion, however, I knew one thing for sure: I wouldn't be going inside tonight.

Something about bunking with a guy who could probably kill me without even moving was slightly disturbing.

* * *

He slammed the sliding screen door shut and shuddered as he exhaled. He couldn't move from that spot. He had just used an extremely dangerous genjutsu on a girl who couldn't even train for an hour without exhausting herself to the point of sleeping. She did nothing to deserve that, she made a stupid _joke_ for God' sake, and he had just put her through it within her first 24 hours at his complex.

 _I thought she was dead…_ He shook the memory from his mind. That had not been the reason he activated his Sharingan. _I overreacted, but it was justified. She almost took the key last night._

The key. The small object that could ruin him in the eyes of the Elders. She had reached for it. How had she known about it? _Is she a spy from the Sound?_ He paused. No, if she was a spy she would have fought him for it. This girl didn't even know how to fight. She was useless to any nation she belonged to.

He moved to the window and peered out at the girl he had just used his bloodline ability on. He saw her curled up in a ball under the cherry blossom tree, clutching her head so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. He felt a slight pang of guilt in his chest, knowing what she was going through, but it quickly subsided.

 _She'll be alright. I'll sort out this key ordeal at another time._

She would get over it. She wouldn't, however, get wrapped up in the intense world of ninjas. Sasuke wasn't stupid. He knew that he couldn't sense her chakra, and since she was still alive, she obviously wasn't from around here. There was no need for a small, foreign girl to enter a world of bloodshed and death…especially one that her body wasn't naturally equipped to handle.

She would not train, but only for the sake of keeping the key safe. He nodded to himself, moving away from the window and allowing all of his guilt to subside.

No, she would not train. He would make sure of that.

* * *

" _(Y/N), sweetheart, you need to promise me something."_ _The girl looked up at the woman who was gently holding her face. She had never seen her face appear so disheveled before, and the panic in her eyes alerted the girl to the fact that whatever was going on was very serious._

" _Of course, mom."_

 _The woman smiled a weak, forced smile. "I need you and your brother to stay in your room for a while. No matter what happens, do not come out. Do you understand?"_

 _The girl froze. "Mom? What's going on? Are we in danger?"_

 _She paused, but gave the girl a pained smile. "You and your brother will be safe. But I need you two to promise me that you won't make a sound. No matter what you hear, no matter what happens, you cannot leave your room. Okay? Can you promise me that?"_

 _The girl nodded, fear apparent across her face. The little boy next to her clutched the girl's sleeve. "Mom…"_

" _Stay away from the windows and put a chair against the door handle." The woman stroked the girl's cheek and kissed her forehead. "I love you, both of you. And your father loves you too." Tears started streaming from the woman's face as she embraced the girl and the boy in a tight hug._

" _I love you too, mom. Dad, too." The woman smiled and stood up, holding the children's hands. Then all kindness washed from her face. She turned to the front door._

" _(Y/N). Grab your brother and get into your room. Now!"_

 _The girl began to panic, but nodded and pulled her brother into her room. "I love you mom!"_

" _I love you both so, so much." Her mother never turned around, never took her eyes off the door. The girl forced herself not to cry as she closed the door and jammed her desk chair under the handle. She started to breathe heavily as the weight of the danger they must be in crashed onto her shoulders._

" _(Y/N)? Are we going to be okay?"_

 _The girl turned to her little brother and embraced him in a massive hug before ushering them both into the closet. He crawled next to her and held on to her shirt tightly._

" _We're going to be just fine, buddy, just fine. I promise."_

" _And mom? And dad?"_

 _A massive sound echoed through the house as the girl imagined that the door had just been blown off its hinges. Her brother clutched onto her shirt even tighter, and she held him back the same. She heard her father and mother downstairs shouting things to each other, but she couldn't make them out. Almost like they were in a different language._

 _The whole entire house shook, and she heard strange voices yelling in her foyer. Whatever was going to happen had started, and the girl had to protect her brother._

 _The house shook again, more violently this time. "(Y/N), I'm scared…"_

" _Me too, buddy, me too." She couldn't be strong for him._

* * *

I woke up with a start, clutching my chest. I hated those dreams. I always seemed to get them when I was stressed out or exhausted, and I think the past day's events kind of encompassed both of those. I tried to distract myself by becoming aware of my surroundings, which was hard to do since it was pitch black out.

It was still night time, and the clouds covered up the stars. I was still under the tree by the training fields, relatively close to the house where _he_ was. I pulled my knees to my chest and shivered as I forced the dream out of my head. I had cried about that memory too much in the past could of days, and, quite honestly, I was getting sick of waking up with puffy eyes.

I took a deep breath, and stood up. I was shaking from the cold, and knew that I needed to go inside before I got hypothermia. As much as Sasuke scared me, freezing to death scared me just a little bit more.

I quietly slid the door open and took my shoes off when I entered. It seemed to be the only tradition I was picking up on, but I was glad to have at least one thing that didn't immediately set me apart.

I tiptoed down the hall, trying to avoid squeaky boards but failing miserably. _If Sasuke wasn't awake already, he definitely is now._ The thought of him searching me out sent a shiver down my spine. I repressed it and continued on, against my better judgement.

After a couple minutes of roaming around, I decided that I was hopelessly lost. I leaned against a board in the wall, and was heavily debating on sleeping there for the night, when I noticed a thin light coming from a room. Against my better judgement for the _second_ time tonight, I decided to check it out.

 _This is so out of character for me_ , I thought as I quietly made my way to the light, _but maybe more out of character for old-world-me. New-world-me is a hell of a lot more adventurous._

I found my way to the light, and it stemmed from a crack in a door that was almost fully closed. _The kitchen…right?_ I peeked through the crack, careful not to move the door or make a sound, and my breath hitched.

Sasuke was sitting on a stool by the counter, perfectly calm. It was unnerving. Even though he was just reading some book and eating a tomato, I immediately flashed back to earlier that night when he did that…that _thing_ to me. I shivered recalling the pain I felt, and stepped away from the light.

"I know you're there, don't bother trying to leave." I froze up, and peered through the slit again. Sure enough, his eyes were still trained on his book and he was still eating his tomato like an apple. He spoke to me without even moving. _How did he know I was here?_ "Come in."

He knew I was there. There was no point to leaving now, and besides, I was hopelessly lost. I took a deep breath, clenched my jaw, and slid the door open. He hadn't even turned his head to look at me, so I decided it was safe to continue. I stepped into the kitchen, my body tensing up with every second that I was getting closer to him.

"Sit down." He patted the stool next to him, eyes still trained on his book. As I took my seat, sure to stay as far away as I could while still being polite, he closed the cover and placed the book down. I couldn't read the title.

"(Y/N). I need to talk to you. In order for me to do that, I need you to listen. No sarcasm, no comebacks. Listen."

I gulped, and nodded. But…seriously? That was it? _No 'why are you up so late', or 'sorry I almost killed you earlier, please accept this half-eaten tomato as a token of my desired peace'? Just, 'listen'. Cool._

"The first night you were here. I need to know what you were trying to do when I found you."

 _You mean pulled me back, restrained me, and locked me in my room._ "I told you. Trying to escape." My jaw set immediately after I spoke. Shivers were continuing up and down my spine.

"Hn." He took a thoughtful bite out of his tomato, chewed, and swallowed. I watched his Adam's apple as a bead of sweat dripped down my forehead. _He can kill me without even moving…and he's sitting inches away from me._

He eyed me out of the corner of his eye as he placed his tomato back on his napkin. "You're nervous."

I froze up. I'd only been here for a day and this guy could already read me like a book. With the way things were going, he would know what size diaper I wore at 7 months before the sun came up. I didn't want to say anything, but his onyx eyes were staring right into mine, and his eyebrows were raised expectantly. _His eyes were red before…_ the realization his me like a truck.

I swallowed, still trying to process the new information I had just gathered. "Y-yes…"

"Why." It wasn't a question so much as a statement.

"B-because…" I looked down and clasped my hands together, drawing myself in as tightly as I could on a stool. "Because of—"

"Because of what I did to you earlier." He stated it so calmly, as if we were discussing the weather or the temperature of our coffee.

"Y-yes," I stammered out. I was extremely tense, and wasn't quite sure what came next. I waited for a couple beats, and nothing happened. I peeked up at him.

I don't know what I was expecting—maybe his icy glare or the red eyes, which I had now connected to what had happened to me. After all, his eyes had never been red at any other time, and they weren't red when I talked to him earlier.

To my relief, and slight confusion, he had picked up his book and was eating his tomato again. I slid off the stool, thankful to have an excuse to leave, and slipped through the sliding door within a matter of seconds.

"You room is down the hall, second door on the left."

"Arigato," I breathed, overwhelmingly relieved to be heading back to my own room, my own personal space, my own _safety._

As I closed my door and headed into the shower, I stopped dead in my tracks. _Arigato? Since when do I know any Japanese?_

Then it hit me. I dropped my towel, shampoo, and slid down the shower door to the floor. _The people here don't speak English._

 _I've been speaking Japanese this entire time._

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! Hope you liked it! I'm trying to really get into the story now. I'm sorry if it feels like it's taking forever, but I _HATE_ short stories that don't allow for character development, so I'm trying not to become what I hate.**

 **AND FLUFF SOON I PROMISE!**

 **I'm going out of town this Friday to lead a pre-orientation trip in the mountains, so it'll be about a month or so before I can update again, but PLEASE STICK WITH ME! You all have been so encouraging and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that you guys like this as much as you do.**

 **Thank you for reading, reviewing, following, and favorite-ing! You guys all rock! Love y'all!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, only my OC.**

 **Author's Note:** Okay let me just apologize real quick. I led a backpacking trip for my college for a month in August, which I think I'm excused for (no internet = no updates), then with cross country and my doubled up science classes just had no time to write. I couldn't even watch _Netflix_ (I'm sure you guys feel my pain on that one). I'm so, so, so incredibly sorry that it took so long for me to write. I'll have a much easier trimester in the winter and will hopefully be able to get a couple of chapters up! Anyways, here goes!

* * *

 _I've been speaking Japanese this entire time._

I clutched my head in my hands and took three deep breaths. I needed to calm down my heartbeat, and that seemed to do the trick. Afterwards, I found myself able to stand up. And go into the bathroom. And take a shower. I even hummed a couple songs to myself while a washed my hair.

 _I probably wasn't even in enough physical shock to justify sliding down the wall,_ I thought to myself while I dried off. _I know it's weird, and I should be more freaked out about it than I am, but so many weird and terrifying things have happened to me since I got here, the fact that I'm speaking Japanese instead of English is almost a completely normal thing._

I wrapped myself in my towel and walked into my room. _On the plus side, it never hurts to be bilingual when applying for jobs. This could be a real advantage for me when I get home._

With that, I had completely accepted the fact that I had suddenly learned and had begun speaking a different language subconsciously, and began to change back into my dirty clothes. Which made me feel like I needed another shower. _I need to buy some new clothes…_

I grabbed my backpack and flung it on my back to leave, when its contents scattered across the room. I didn't remember leaving it open last time I used it.

I kneeled down to pick everything up, when I noticed a small bag that I had never seen before by my knee. It was beautifully designed, and cinched at the top. I pulled at the string to open it, and saw a white piece of paper sitting on top.

"This is for food and a new set of clothes."

I didn't recognize the writing and it wasn't signed, so I assumed it was from Sasuke. I thought at least Naruto or Lady Tsunade would have the wherewithal to put their names at the bottom, and nobody else had been near my backpack recently.

I placed the small bag into my backpack and—zipping it up this time—threw it over my shoulder and headed down the hallway. I was starting to understand the layout of the building, and could finally get to the entrance without becoming completely lost.

"Did you get the bag?"

I heard a deep voice as I passed the kitchen. I stopped and peered in. He posed it as a question, but it was spoken more like a statement.

"Uh…hai. Arigato." As much as it freaked me out that I was speaking Japanese, I was trying to do it consciously. Actually focusing on saying "hai, arigato" rather than "yeah, thanks" seemed like a good first step. Hopefully if I could speak it consciously I would retain the skill when I got back home.

"Your voice is weird today." He was reading his book and eating his tomato. This seemed like a common thing for him.

"Sorry," I grumbled and turned to leave. I was pretty bummed, to be honest. I guess being aware of what I'm saying will have to be the step before actually trying to speak the language consciously.

"(Y/N)." His voice was firm, and when I turned around he was out of his chair. "I don't care what you do during the day, but I want you back by dark."

His eyes were darker than normal, and he was trying his hardest to be intimidating, but there was a piece of tomato skin hanging on his lip and I couldn't take him seriously. I started to laugh, and I reverted back into typical me…which means I started speaking before thinking.

"You're serious?"

He glared at me.

You, the guy who can't even eat a tomato without making a mess of it, want to give me a _curfew_? Hah, yeah, okay." I was still laughing when he slammed my back against the wall behind me. My head made contact— _hard._

He reached to his lip and picked off the piece of skin without breaking eye contact. "You remember last time you tried to make a joke?" His eyes turned red again and my face paled. Of course I hadn't forgotten. I hardly sleep anymore because I can still see the swirling colors when I close my eyes. "Exactly."

He backed off and sat back down in his chair. "By dark."

I gulped, and managed to stammer out a faint "h-hai" before scrambling out the front door. I needed some air.

* * *

"I don't know who you are, but you don't look pregnant to me. Are you buying in advance?"

I glanced up from the most normal-looking shirt I had seen all morning and saw a striking blonde girl, about my age, standing next to me.

"I said, are you pregnant?"

I quickly put the shirt back. "Uh, no. I'm new here and—"

The blonde girl began to laugh. "Those are maternity clothes, silly!" She winked at me and grabbed my arm to a different part of the store. "I'm Ino, and I'll help you find some clothes that actually show off your figure! You have a great figure, you know."

I was shocked by her bluntness, so I let her pull me along. I mean, I'm sure she knew the place better than I did, but I wasn't so sure how to interact with someone who was so…well, _bossy._

"Try this on! And this! Oooooh! You have to wear this. And this color netting would look _so_ much better with your skin tone—black really washes you out. You're so pale, er, what did you say your name was? Oh my gosh! Try this on!"

By the time Ino pushed me into a dressing room, the stack of clothes in my arms were taller than my head. I picked the outfit on the top of the pile—a dress that barely covered what it should with netting down the legs—and opened to door to show Ino. "I'm (Y/N), by the way. I don't think I got a chance to tell you earlier." The dress kept slipping. I couldn't wear this to a club let alone a training field.

She frowned. "Nope. It would look better on me. Next outfit!"

I turned back to the room and raised my eyebrows. This girl was a handful.

By the time I had made it through the whole pile, Ino had narrowed my outfits down to two: the first, with red tones, was a dress that was slim at the waist with a high, very wide collar. Sort of like a cowl neck. The slit in the front was in the middle, and the spandex underneath went halfway down my thigh. The second outfit had a completely-netted, tight-fitting tank underneath a lightweight breastplate that went all the way to my belly button with dark green pants that tucked into white tape on my shins. I pulled up the fingerless gloves and Ino squealed. I could move around easily in both, and—I had to admit—they looked good on me.

"Ooh, I can't decide….how much money do you have?"

I fumbled to open the bag Sasuke gave me, and, out of impatience, Ino swiped it from my hands. "You're taking too—oh my gosh! You have so much money!" I glanced in the bag.

"I do?"

"You have to get them both! Then you have to come to lunch with me. I want you to meet all of my friends. They'll love you, er, what did you say your name was?"

"(Y/N)," I exhaled as she pushed me to the counter. I bought the clothing, changed into the dress in the dressing room, and looked in the mirror. I looked like I belonged, and it freaked me out. I mean, if I have an entire wardrobe of clothing that I can only wear here….I shook my head. It was becoming too real. Too comfortable. I exhaled into the mirror, and reminded myself of why I was acting so nonchalant about this. _If they think you're comfortable here, if they think you're cooperating, they'll give you your own place. Less supervision. More training. You can go home._

I smiled at the thought of being back in my little apartment at home, but the smile felt fake. Here, I had friends. I had people who cared about me, like Naruto and Sakura. My stomach twisted as I struggled to keep my mind in focus.

"(Y/N), come on! You're going to make me late!" I smiled. _For now, I'll just ride along_. _That couldn't be so bad, right?_ Feeling clean and relatively happy for the first time in a while, I smiled and left to follow Ino to, well, wherever we were going.

* * *

Of course we were eating at Ichiraku's. I was starting to think this was the only restaurant in the entire Village. I smiled to myself, remembering how Sakura pummeled Naruto here the first time I met him, and followed Ino through the flaps.

 _I wonder how Naruto and Sakura are doing?_ Then a dark thought crossed my mind. _They're okay, right? I mean, they're soldiers…They're at war…What if they're…dead?_

"Oi, Ino, who's this? She doesn't look so good."

I glanced up to see a chubby boy with swirls on his cheeks stuffing his face with potato chips and staring me down. "Maybe your friend needs to eat, Ino." He offered me his bag of chips. "I'm Choji. You look pale, so you should eat."

The boy sitting next to him with spiky pineapple hair turned to me. "Just don't take the last chip from Choji's bag. He puts a lot of stock into that one, for some reason." His head rested in his hand, and he looked like he hated everyone in the room. _What's this kid's problem?_

"THE LAST CHIP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE!" Choji's eyes burned with passion as he held the bag in front of him. "It must be eaten with great care and respect as it represents both the ending of one meal and the beginning of another!" _This guy is a little…much._

After his rant about food, he held the bag out to me again. I reached in and took a chip. I wasn't hungry, that wasn't the issue, but it was still kind of him to offer.

"Arigato, Choji."

"Oh! I forgot to introduce you guys! (Y/N), this is Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. Guys, this is (Y/N). I found her shopping for clothes in the maternity section today."

My face heated up as I scrambled to recover myself from that totally awful first impression. "No! I'm not—I mean, I—um, I'm…I mean, I _am_ (Y/N), I'm just—I'm not—."

"You're not pregnant," smiled the boy with markings on his face. I sighed and smiled at Kiba. I recognized him from the training field the day before, and turns out he recognized me too. Or, at least, Akamaru did. The white dog came bounding from its master's side and leapt up into my arms. He licked my face furiously, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey! Akamaru! Come here!" The dog jumped back to Kiba, and his eyes widened in regonition. "You're the girl who lives at the Uchiha residence!"

The others all turned to look at me, and Ino's mouth dropped. " _You're_ the girl who came out of the lake? No wonder Ive never seen you before! Normally I know all of the girls who are almost as pretty as me. Now tell me, was it painful? "

My body tensed up. _How did she know that I came from the lake? What else does she know about me? Are they part of my surveillance? Maybe I'm being watched right now…_ Ignoring my obvious discomfort, Ino continued to barrage me with questions.

"Where did you come from? You lived with Naruto, right? He's such an idiot. Is he as messy as I think he is? I'm sure he's worse. Oh, you live with Sasuke-kun! I'm so jealous! How is Sasuke-kun today? Do you guys talk at all? Does he talk about me a lot? He secretly loves me, I'm sure. What color are his eyes when he's not angry? Does he really _only_ eat tomatoes? Does he—oh!"

The boy with the pineapple hair— _Shikamaru?_ —had stood up and put his hand on Ino's shoulder. "I think that's enough, Ino. You're stressing her out."

He was right. I was so tensed up that I was starting to get shoulder cramps. _This is_ not _the way I intended on meeting new people…_

He turned to me. "Do you want to go relax for a bit? You're really tense." I nodded, and he walked out of the restaurant. I figured that was a signal for me to go with him, so I began to follow suit.

"Bye, (Y/N)-chan! Nice to meet you!" Choji smiled at me through the ramen that he was eating. I smiled back, and waved to the others. It was nice to know more than one person in the Village, and these guys didn't seem too bad. _Even if they're potentially_ _a part of my surveillance team…_

I saw Shikamaru waiting for me, and quickly caught up. "Man, Ino is so troublesome. We work well as a team, but she is such a pain outside of missions."

I smiled. "She talks about herself a lot, doesn't she?"

"You have no idea."

We walked in a comfortable silence through the Village until we reached a small grassy hill next to a prominent tree. The pineapple head boy laid down at the edge of the shade and watched the sky. "I do this whenever Ino or Naruto become too bothersome, so I'm pretty much here all the time."

I sat down next to him and leaned back. He was right. The sky was a beautiful blue, and the clouds moved slowly; as if they were desperate not to reach the other side of the horizon.

 _The clouds are so white, so pure…so peaceful. I haven't felt peaceful in years._ I sighed. _These clouds are so lucky—they get to experience nothing but relaxation all the time. I wish I could be up there right now. I could just sit back, relax, and just drift across the sky._ I smiled to myself. "Man, what I wouldn't give to be a cloud."

Shikamaru turned his head to me. "What?"

I felt heat rising in my cheeks. _I didn't mean to say that out loud!_ "I…um…"

"You said you wanted to be a cloud."

"Well…yeah." The last word was almost too quiet to be heard.

"Me, too."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. I perched myself on one arm and looked at the boy lying next to me. "What?"

"Clouds are just so peaceful, and they get to do whatever they want. They get to drift slowly across the sky. They have no responsibilities, no battles to fight…the ground is too troublesome. I wish I was a cloud." He laughed to himself. "That's not something people usually find out they have in common this early on, but I guess it's an interesting start."

"Start to what?"

He looked over at me, and smiled. Pineapple head actually _smiled._ "Our friendship, of course. Anyone who wants to be a cloud is fine by me."

I lied back down and watched the sky again. Something about the sky always entranced me; helped me worry less about whatever was going on in my life. I mean, something that big just makes you feel so…small.

Sitting next to Shikamaru while watching the sky, I pushed away any worries of getting home, any fears of the asshole Sasuke, any anxieties about Naruto and Sakura…even the prophecy—which had been hanging over my head—was suppressed. I felt my muscles fully relax, and I sighed of content.

 _This…I can handle this. This is good._

 _This is good._

* * *

Sasuke gripped the key tightly in his hand as he walked down the dark staircase. He would have to be much less careless with its placement now that the girl was learning her way around his home.

 _No,_ he thought to himself as his footsteps echoed off stone walls in the cold, damp corridor, _this is not a home. This is a residence. This hasn't been a home since Itachi…_ He stopped and tightened his jaw, clenching his hand around the key to the point that the pain shocked him from his rage. He needed to get a grip on himself. When he walked into that room, he had to be stone cold…or everything will have been for nothing.

He looked down in the hand that held the key, and noticed a drop of blood coming from where the key had pierced his palm. He still did not believe that this girl knew what it opened, or that she had any idea of what he was doing, but he could not take any chances. He made a note to himself to be aware of her location at all times, at least until he was positive that she was not a threat. And in order to make sure she remains the smallest threat possible, he would ascertain that she stayed off the training field.

Thinking about her attempting to train, Sasuke chuckled to himself. _What kind of Village sends a spy and makes her learn all of her training and chakra control in enemy territory? That's so..._ He paused. _…smart._ He furrowed his brow, trying to think through which Village would have such a powerful girl that they could send her, completely untrained, to their enemy Village and have her appear weak to gain trust and support. The Leaf may end up training the very weapon that destroys it.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he looked to the large door ahead. _I can't think about these things right now. I must focus on the thing at hand._ He placed the key in his left hand, and continued forward. This was always his favorite part. Opening the door. Hearing the gasp on the other side, and the fear he evoked. It gave him the feeling of control that he lacked above this corridor.

As he neared the door, he softened his footsteps and his hand twitched in anticipation. He gripped the iron handle, quietly turned the key in the lock, and let silence wash over him and the being inside.

 _I will wait until they are positive that I'm not here; that my footsteps earlier were their imagination. My entrance must be a complete surprise…it's more fun that way, anyways._

After a couple moments, and all at once, he threw open the door. The hinges creaked loudly against their will and the wood of the door banged sharply against the stone walls, sending echoes through the corridor.

There was a sharp intake of breath from inside the room, and Sasuke entered slowly as the massive door swung shut behind him.

Nobody could ever find out about this.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry if it's a little short! I just felt so bad about being away for so long, I really wanted to get something out. And most of this chapter was just a filler, so I tried to make it a little more interesting at the end! I have most of it planned out, so I really hope you like where it's going! Please read and review!

Also: I don't have the final pairing planned out. I'll be taking a vote to see which pairing I should go with! Just send me a message or a review with your vote!

OCxNaruto

OCxSasuke

OCxShikamaru

OCxKiba

OCxChoji (gotta give the guy some love)

OCxSakura (why not?)

OCxNarutoxSasuke (love triangle)

OR SEND ME ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR PAIRINGS! I may write more Naruto fanfiction in the future when this is finished, so I'll need ideas for those pairings as well.

Lastly, I've had a few reviews asking me for the ages of my characters as to how it relates to the Naruto realm. Well, see, I prefer stories that you, as the reader, can immerse yourself in no matter your age or appearance. I've made it apparent that my OC is a girl, and that shes a late teenager, maybe early 20s, but that's all I wish to disclose. I want you, as the reader, to be able to decide your favorite appearance for the Naruto characters, and imagine them as such. This is a story I'm writing, but it's for you! Have fun with it and make it your own!

LOVE YOU ALL! THANK YOU FOR BEARING WITH ME THROUGH THIS STORY/ADVENTURE!


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Naruto. I hired some government officials to steal the rights from Masashi Kishimoto, but they haven't come back yet. Fingers crossed!

* * *

About a week had passed, and nothing of consequence had happened. I met up with Ino, Kiba, Choji, or Shikamaru every day, usually just grabbing ramen at Ichiraku's. They've been helping me out a little bit with the customs and general knowledge of the Village, so I'd like to think I'm blending in a little better than I was before. Which, thankfully, means I'm one step closer to getting home.

Sasuke is still a silent asshole, but he has become an increasingly obnoxious asshole (if you could believe it) after he decided that he needed to know what I'm doing every second of every day. He hasn't given me any more money since that day, and so I've been seriously cutting back on my spending to make it last as long as possible. And I can't even _train_ thanks to the asshole.

Needless to say, I'm bored out of my _mind_.

A massive sigh escaped my mouth as I lay on the hill next to Shikamaru, watching the sky. The blue still shone just as brightly, and the rhythmic moving of the clouds made me feel content. Content, but bored. I realized at that moment that I didn't want to be a cloud anymore. Their lives were so _boring._ They couldn't change their color or their material, and they just traveled in a semi-straight line all day, every day. I was bored enough on the ground where I could change outfits and move in whatever line shape I wanted.

"Hey, (Y/N), are you going to the gates today?"

"Huh? The gates?" I glanced over at pineapple head. "Why would I go to the gates? I'm not supposed to leave the Village." It turns out the friends I made had already heard about my predicament, since I 'was the most interesting thing that had happened since Kakashi lost his mask', according to Ino. Whatever that means.

"You aren't going to leave the Village. You don't have to be outside the gates or anything, I just thought that since you are friends with Naruto and Sakura—"

"Naruto and Sakura? Are they coming back?" I felt a little bad about cutting him off, but I needed him to get to the point—he tended to move kind of slowly. _If these two are coming back_ …I could already feel my muscles relaxing at the thought of seeing them again. Sakura was patient with me and explained things well, and Naruto calmed my nerves when I was unsure about my predicament. I _needed_ them to come back.

He smirked. "Yeah, their mission should have been complete a couple days ago, so given the appropriate amount of travel time and incorporating Naruto's food breaks, I'd say they should be here in an hour or so."

My heart swelled thinking about my first friends in the Leaf. "Really? That's so wonderful!" I smiled and closed my eyes, then paused. _Shikamaru, you said they "should" be here in a couple of hours…_

"But you don't know for sure that they're coming?"

 _You don't know for sure….you don't know for sure that they're alive…_

Shikamaru seemed to sense where my mind was going, and immediately provided a counter-answer. "If they're not back by the end of today, Hokage-sama will send out a search team to see what's going on. It's no big deal. More trouble than it's worth, really. A lot of teams are late for arrival. They probably just ran out of food or got lost for a bit."

That didn't make me feel much better. Shikamaru must have been able to tell, because he sat up and tried a different angle on the situation.

"I mean, you lived with Naruto, right?" I nodded. "You know he's messy and unorganized." I nodded again, thinking about the rotten milk. I shuddered at the thought of the smell. "Well, then you know that Naruto will probably hold them back in terms of time. Knowing him, he'll complain about being hungry or run off to do something stupid and the team will have to accommodate him. They'll lose time."

I gulped, and it was hard to swallow. He sat back. "Don't worry so much, (Y/N). The kid has a good heart, but he's just an idiot."

I let out a quiet laugh. I had thought the same thing the night Naruto rat around town with me on his back like a maniac. _Great kid, massive idiot. Seems to be the consensus._

We lay there in a comfortable silence. That was the nice thing about hanging with Shikamaru. He never felt the urge to talk. He was like a breath of fresh air compared to Ino and Sakura, and he was much nicer than Sasuke. Calmer than Naruto, too. He was shaping up to be my favorite person in Konoha.

As if he had heard my thoughts, Shikamaru leaned over. "You look exhausted. You should take a nap. I'll wake you up when they get here."

 _Yeah, sure. He's my favorite, but he's prone to falling asleep. Constantly._

"Really?" I eyed him. "Nara, I swear to God, if you don't wake me up in time to see Naruto and Sakura I will—."

"You'll what, (Y/N)?" He smirked at me. "Have you ever even trained before?"

My eyes narrowed. "I would love to, if the asshole didn't force me off the training field."

Nara stared at me before giving a mumbled "hn", and leaning back.

"I'll wake you up. Don't be so troublesome."

He nodded, and I closed my eyes. A cool breeze drifted over my face, and I could hear wind chimes on a house in the distance. The sounds and smells of nature were soothing to me, and soon enough I could feel my eyes closing. It was hard for me to sleep in Sasuke's house, so I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a long time. The whole environment was just…off. Cold. Threatening.

Out here, however, on this hill with Shikamaru, I felt at peace. I soon fell asleep.

The dreams started again.

* * *

" _Are you watching me, (Y/N)? You must pay very close attention."_

" _Yes, Daddy!"_

" _Good. Now watch my hands. It is very important that you make the motions exactly as I show you, or it won't work."_

" _Let me try! Let me try!"_

 _(laugh) "Okay, okay. We're going to say some animals now. Now say it with me…"_

 _(together) "Tiger, boar, ox, dog."_

" _Very good, very good! Now we're going to do it with our special words, okay?"_

" _I want to try it with the hand stuff!"_

 _(laughs) "Let's get the names down first, okay?"_

 _(stomps foot, sighs, smiles) "Okay."_

 _(together) "Tora, I, Ushi, Inu."_

" _Good! Are you ready for the hand motions? We'll go slowly—."_

" _No! Don't go slowly Daddy, I've been practicing."_

" _Oh? Well, in that case, we'll go at a normal pace. Alright?_

 _(nod)_

 _(together) "Tora, I, Ushi, Inu!"_

 _(a small trail of smoke swirls around the two, and the girl laughs) "It worked, Daddy, it worked!"_

 _(man smiles halfheartedly, speaks softly to himself) "No, sweetheart, it didn't."_

 _The girl ran off to show her mother what she learned, but realized she forgot to thank her father. She turned around to run back, but all she saw was the smoke she created attacking her father, covering him in flames. The fire shot out in all directions, and she couldn't move._

" _Daddy!"_

 _She watched helplessly as it engulfed her mother first, and her brother second. She could only watch as they called out to her, burning._

 _(girl screams)_

0

"(Y/N)! Wake up, come on! It's just a bad dream, damn it, (Y/N)! Wake up!"

I bolted upright and clutched my face in my hands. There were beads of sweat on my forehead, and my whole body began shaking as my eyes widened. I couldn't get the image of my burning family out of my head. _It's my fault…it's all my fault…it wasn't just a dream…I killed my family…_

I tightened my grip on my head. _But…if I killed them…why don't I remember?_ I strained myself to remember what happened after I hid in that closet. _Nothing…I can't remember anything…but I killed them. I can feel it. I killed all of them._

I was so tense and upset that I didn't even notice Shikamaru lean against the tree and pull me into him.

 _They're dead…because of me…_

"Man, you must have had some dream. You okay?"

His voice was low and comforting, slowly pulling me away from the horrible images in my head as I began to breathe normally. I swallowed, still shaking from the realization that I can't even freaking remember a major in my life, then finally gathered the courage to pull my face away from my hands. Which, of course, led to my realization that Shikamaru was holding me.

 _In his lap._

My face heated up and I scrambled away, looking anywhere but his face.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to put you in such a c-comp-compromising situation! I…I just get bad dreams sometimes, a-and they take a while to l-leave my head! S-sorry!" I was shaking more, this time from embarassment, and words were difficult to say. I couldn't stop thinking about fire.

Shikamaru laughed. _Laughed._ I looked up.

"Man, you're so funny. Sometimes you're loudmouthed and rude like Ino, and other times you act just like Hinata."

I was about to ask who in the hell Hinata was, when he continued talking.

"So, this dream of yours. What could have been so bad that you woke up screaming and shaking?"

My face immediately paled and my mind flashed to the image of my brother: tears streaming down his face as he clutched his stuffed monkey, flames covering his entire body. He was calling out to mom, to dad, to me. But they were calling out for help too. And I couldn't do a damn thing. _It was all my fault…it can't be…but it's true…_ Shikamaru realized I was deteriorating back into my traumatized state, and quickly moved over to put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up.

"Hey, forget I asked. You don't have to think about it, okay?" He gave his best smile—which was really a smirk—and squeezed my shoulder. I smiled gratefully as his presence washed away most thoughts of my family, but I shuddered as I tried to think about anything else. _Naruto. Rotten milk. Maternity clothes. Ramen._

"I don't want you to ever feel uncomfortable around me. I swear, you're the only normal woman in this entire village." He paused, and looked off into the woods. I watched him as he concentrated on something in the distance. "Still troublesome, though."

"Hey!" I cuffed his shoulder, and he smirked.

"You call that a punch? Train with me sometime. Maybe you'll actually learn how to hit."

I started to make a snarky comeback, but my face fell. "I can't, I'm sorry. Sasuke—."

"But you have to."

That caught my full attention. Any thoughts of my dream left my head. "What do you mean, 'I have to'? I don't _have_ to do anything!"

He put his hands up in defense. "Woah, there. I mean that unfortunately, I have direct orders from Tsunade-sama to train you in Naruto's place. I don't want to do it, but the Hokage is an intimidating woman. Besides, it's too much of a bother to be on anyone's bad side. So I agreed."

 _But Sasuke…_

"Don't worry," he said, reading my face, "I already spoke with Sasuke. I noticed him following us a couple times on our walks around the woods, and was suspicious. He seems to be uncharacteristically interested in you."

I narrowed my eyes. "Interested? In…me?"Shikamaru nodded, crossed his arms, and continued.

"I normally hate confrontation, but I hate being trailed even more. So I interrupted his nightly sake a couple nights ago and tried to figure out what his deal was." He sighed. "I didn't figure anything out, but he found out from our conversation that I'm supposed to train you and he became enraged. I don't think even Naruto has ever made him that angry. Probably just the sake in his system, though."

My eyebrow arched. Naruto? Those two know each other?

"He finally agreed to let me train you, on the condition that he watches every session. Even the 'great Sasuke' can't go against the Hokage, and he knows it. Especially not now."

"Not now? What's so special about now?"

He cocked his head. "You're living with him and you don't know?" Shikamaru sighed, and put his head in his hands. "Why does she have to ask so many questions," he murmured to himself. He looked up. "He's technically still on probation for going against the village. Almost destroyed it, too. But I'm done explaining. You'll have to ask him about it. Besides, Naruto and Sakura should be here soon. Come on."

"Um…yeah. Hai."

He stood up to go, and I followed him. I was excited to see Naruto and Sakura again, but was still slightly concerned about the fact that I was living with a guy who could, apparently, almost level an entire village made of shinobi. I shuddered. That was not a fun fact to think about.

* * *

We stood at the gates, looking down the road. We'd been there for a few minutes, and there were no people in sight. Shikamaru had, characteristically, taken to sitting against the gate wall in the shade as opposed to standing in the sun. Which I was doing out of pure anxiety.

 _Why aren't they back yet?_

"Baka, you're going to get a sunburn. Sit in the shade."

"I'm not going to get a sunburn. And don't call me an idiot, Mr. Lazy Pants."

He smirked. "Don't be dumb. And if you're going to call me names, at least _try_ to make them insulting."

I turned to him. "Oh, don't worry. I can think of a whole list of names for you."

"Is that a threat?" I leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "You're not very threatening, you know. You look too soft and pale to be threatening. Maybe you shouldn't train. You can always work in that maternity store you seem to love so much."

My face heated up from frustration. If he was trying to get a rise out of me, it was working. Being called weak or 'not scary' happened to me every time I tried to put up a fight, and it was a personal pet peeve. And I would _not_ work in a _maternity store._

"Not threatening? We'll see about that." I cracked my knuckles, and he raised his eyebrows. "We can throw down right here, right now. I had a brother—I can take anyone down. _Especially_ idiots who call me weak." Well, technically I had a six year old brother who cried when he knocked over a teddy bear, but Shikamaru didn't need to know that. I was fired up.

The pineapple boy's smirk deepened, and he stood up. "Oh, yeah?" He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to me, coolly and calmly. I tried to feign increased anger, and stand up tall, but his collected personality was getting to me mentally. I didn't actually want to pick a fight with Shikamaru, but I needed to do _something_ to prove my worth in this village. So far, I was that foreign girl who just took up space and ate food. I needed to better my standing.

 _Besides, Shikamaru is irritating. He teases you constantly. Let him have it._

Shikamaru walked up so we were inches apart, and my eyes stared straight into his chest. I had never realized how much taller the kid was than me, and this was probably the worst possible time for me to figure it out.

"Bring it, _softie_."

That did it. I wound my fist back, clenched my hand, and nailed Shikamaru in the abdomen as hard as I could.

Nothing.

He didn't recoil, didn't fight back, didn't even grab my hand. He just smirked at me. Per usual.

"You call that a punch? I'm pretty sure my deceased grandmother can punch better than you."

The anger was overwhelming. _I'm not weak, damn it! I can't be weak!_

I began hitting Shikamaru with my balled-up hands over and over again, and felt tears coming out of my eyes. _I can't go home if I'm weak! I have to be strong! I have to get back home! I'm not weak!_

I put all of my anger into my right hand for the final blow. I flattened my hand but bent my fingers in at the second knuckle, and tucked my thumb in at the side. I pulled back farther, and this time used my entire body weight to propel my hand into Shikamaru's stomach. This time, he fell back. _Hard._

A massive smile crept up on my face. _I knocked him down! I did it! I'm not weak!_ Then, unfortunately, the after-effects of incorrectly punching a rock-solid abdomen appeared, and I winced as I nursed my swollen knuckles.

The lazy shinobi stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and walked back over to me. "Finally. I knew you had it in you. We can work more on hitting at your next training session."

He took my hands and began to bandage them with tape he had in his pocket. Then it hit me.

"Wait…our _next_ training session?" I looked down at my hands. "This was a session? And why do you have bandages in your pocket? Were you…were you _planning_ this?"

He smiled back at me. "Well, I don't necessarily love standard training methods, and knew you had zero fighting experience. Any type of normal training would take you forever." He sighed, as if explaining himself was the biggest hassle in the world. "Therefore, I figured if I riled you up and made you angry, you're enough of a hot-head that you would try to physically attack me. And I was right."

My face burned. _He can read me like a book!_

"Enough punches in and you were bound to figure out the most effective way to hit someone. I didn't expect you to knock me over, though. That was pretty impressive for a first go."

I couldn't speak. I was angry, embarrassed, happy, and confused, all at the same time. The biggest thing bothering me, though, was the way I hit Shikamaru at the end. It felt…well, it felt completely normal. Like it was something I already knew how to do. I thought about my nightmare—the beginning—and the hand signals my Dad had apparently taught me when I was younger. _I didn't know he taught me those…_

I realized at that moment that there was a lot about my younger life I didn't remember. I guess I had assumed up until this point that it was normal. That people's memories didn't mature until they were in their teens. _I was wrong?_

"Ne, Shikamaru! You got beat up by (Y/N)-chan?" I whipped my head to the road leading into the city, and saw Sakura, Naruto, and some guy in green rapidly approaching the gates.

Well, Naruto was rapidly approaching. The other two were walking calmly. Like normal people would.

"Bahaha! Way to go, (Y/N)-chan!" I began to backtrack as he barreled towards me. He was getting pretty close and didn't seem to have any intention of slowing down.

"N-Naruto! Slow dow—!"

I was cut off by Naruto slamming into me, spinning to absorb the impact, and picking me up under my arms. "You knocked him down so hard! That's my girl, (Y/N)-chan!" My face turned bright red as he spun me around a few more times.

"What did this lazy idiot do to make you beat him up anyways? And why is your face so red?"

That, of course, only served to deepen my blush, and Shikamaru—thank the Heavens—stepped in to answer for me. "I'm under the orders of the Hokage to train her. So I pissed her off to teach her how to punch."

Naruto laughed. "Well it worked, didn't it? You have a mean punch, (Y/)-chan!"

I couldn't meet him in the eyes. "Th-thanks." _Why am I stuttering? And why is my face so red? All he did was call me his girl and tell me I punched well. That's nothing to get butterflies about!_

At this point, Sakura and the other guy—with _massive_ eyebrows—had walked up to meet us. The man in green stepped forward and bowed slightly in my direction.

"You must be (Y/N)-chan! I have heard wonderful things about you from my comrades! I am Rock Lee!"

I looked up to meet his eyes, which were also massive, and his face lit up in excitement. "Ah! The glory of love!" He ran over and took my hand in his, passion filling his face as tears streamed down his cheeks. I was in shock. "! I can see beauty pouring out of you, and it is due to the power of love! Combined with the power of youth, love can make anything is possible!"

I looked at Sakura in complete awe as she stormed up to Lee and began yelling.

"Baka!" She nailed him on the head, and he fell to the ground. "You're scaring her! You can't expect people to like you if you act like a pervert the first time they meet you!"

 _Damn…she's scary_ , I noted, as it became apparent that she was currently punching Lee _though_ the ground. I took an unsure step backwards, only to bump into Naruto. He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me his stupid grin.

"So? Are you ready to train for real, (Y/N)?"

"Hey! I'm the one with the orders to train her, idiot." Shikamaru spit on the ground near him.

"Yeah? Well I'm helping!" The two butted heads—literally.

"Says who?"

"Says me! And I can go right up to Tsunade-bachan and she'll make you listen to me! You got a problem with that?"

Shikamaru conceded, and shoved his hands back in his pockets. "Man, what a pain." He looked at me. "Y/N), you don't really care, do you?"

I shook my head. If anything, Naruto was simply proving my theory that he was related to the Hokage. I mean, he calls her _grandma._

"Fine. You can help, dumbass."

"What did you just call me?!"

Shikamaru smirked. "Dumbass."

"Shut up! I can take you on any time, any place!"

"Tch, you're not worth my time."

"I'll prove you wrong! Fight me, Shikamaru!"

I smiled. I didn't really understand the motives of anyone in this godforsaken village, but I was starting to become happy that I met everyone. Sakura was still beating up Lee for scaring me, and Shikamaru and Naruto were still butting heads. I sighed. _Is this how they normally are?_ I laughed to myself at the thought of them all going at it in a restaurant.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the leaves of the forest move in the wind. That's right. I can't get comfortable. I need to go home.

I turned my head back to the four crazy people beside me, and bit my lip as they ignored me. _Thank you guys…for everything._ A bird flew overhead, past the buildings and over the carved mountain.

 _But I can't stay._

* * *

He watched as she followed the bird with her eyes. _She doesn't want to stay here,_ he surmised. _She wants to leave Konoha._ He shook the thoughts from his head, reminding himself of the key incident.

He watched from the alleyway as Naruto, clearly frustrated by the Nara boy, stomped over to (Y/N) and threw his arm around her shoulders. The man tensed. _She lives in my house. Only I can be allowed to do that._ His fists clenched. _Besides, why are they getting close to her? Don't they realize who she is? What she wants?_

The group, finally having calmed down, walked in a cluster down the road. _Probably to get ramen,_ he thought to himself. He began to walk back home, and replayed (Y/N)'s hit in his mind.

 _She's good,_ he thought to himself. _She picked it up quickly. Unless…_ He stopped in the middle of the road. _…unless she already knows how to fight—and to suppress her chakra—and is bringing all of us along in her charade._ He began running from home. The great Sasuke Uchiha, running.

 _She knows, damnit! She knows about the cellar! And if she can suppress her chakra that much, she's a fucking good shinobi, too!_

He cursed under his breath. That was the last straw. He would now be openly watching every training session she had. He _had_ to know what she was feigning to learn.

Restoring the clan had always been his only goal, and he was so close that he'd be damned if he let a scrawny nobody from another village ruin his chance at redemption.

He had to be one step ahead of her. For the good of the clan.

* * *

Authors Note: Hey! I'm trying to be better about updating while I'm home, because once I get back to school I probably won't be able to post anything. Maybe a chapter or tow. Therefore, I made this one a little longer for you guys!

Anyways, I know this is a bit of a filler chapter, like the last one, but I feel like it's important for (Y/N) to build relationships with the characters (who may be a little OOC, sorry!) before anything major happens. I PROMISE, the next couple chapters will be more interesting. I mean, _hello!_ You start _training!_

Lastly, I'm slowly starting to add a little more fluff in. I mean, this is a fanfiction, right? This is what we all secretly want deep down. Fluff. And I'm here to please. (Slowly.)

SPEAKING OF WHICH:

OCxNaruto - 1

OCxSasuke - 1

OCxShikamaru - 2

OCxKiba - 0

OCxChoji - 0

OCxSakura - 0

OCxNarutoxSasuke - 1

Shikamaru takes the lead, with Naruto, Sasuke, and the love triangle not far behind! Keep voting! I'll keep this poll up for a couple more chapters as OC figures it all out.

Thank you all for reading, please rate and review! Love you all!

-S (for shan4nigans. makes me seem kind of ominous, yeah?)


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